Carolina Beach, North Carolina: Carolina Beach rocks during the 21st Annual Beach Music Festival held Saturday, June 3rd. The Carolina Beach Music Festival is Pleasure Island's annual summer music extravaganza that features the best in beach music. This year's festivities kick off on Saturday morning at 11:00am with continuous live music until 5:00pm by The Band of Oz (11am) Coastline (12:30pm), Craig Woolard Band (2:15pm) and Tommy Black and Blooz (3:45pm). Gates open at 10:30am, so bring your beach chairs, sunscreen, dance shoes and spend all day listening and dancing to great music on Carolina Beach’s Oceanfront Beach Stage (Harper Ave. & Cape Fear Blvd.).
Later that same evening the party continues with a Shag Dance Contest sponsored by American Harbor Mortgage Co. at the Carolina Shag Club (103 N. Lake Park Blvd., behind El Zarappe Mexican restaurant) in Carolina Beach. Doors open at 8:00pm and the shag competition begins at 9:00pm with Milton 'Kingfish' White as the deejay host. Sign up for the competition or have fun watching as serious shag dancers kick up their heels and boogie for more than $1,000 in cash prizes. A cover charge of $5 will be charged at the door.
Make a weekend of your visit to Pleasure Island. Discover Carolina Beach's simple pleasures and unexpected treasures. Hike the Venus Flytrap Trail at Carolina Beach State Park where this rare carnivorous plant grows wild; cast your rod and reel from the Carolina Beach Fishing Pier; venture out on a kayak/canoe nature tour or a narrated tour boat cruise along the waterway; check out daily catches at the Carolina Beach Marina. Just minutes away, explore Kure Beach - North Carolina's small wonder - where you can fish from the state's oldest fishing pier; observe sharks and marine life at the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher; stroll along a 5-mile stretch of undeveloped beach at Fort Fisher State Recreation Area; explore Civil War history at Fort Fisher State Historic Site; or take the North Carolina Ferry across the Cape Fear River. Relax on the wide sandy beaches of Carolina, Kure and Fort Fisher. Shop the island's beach boutiques for souvenirs and summer fashions. Dine at restaurants specializing in fresh seafood and regional fare. At day's end, bunk in at one of the island’s ccommodations that range from large oceanfront hotels and condominiums to independently-owned motels, beach cottages, or a bed-and-breakfast inn.
Tickets to the Beach Music Festival cost $15 in advance and $20 at the gate. Advance tickets are available at the Pleasure Island Chamber of Commerce. For more information, please call 910-458-8434 or visit www.pleasureislandchambernc.org.
