SEPTEMBER 2026
Downtown OC’s exciting September September in Ocean City offers much more to do and see than you realize Ask anyone who lives in Ocean City which month they love most, and the answer is almost always the same. September. Locals call it their summer, and for good reason. The beaches open up, the lines at your favorite boardwalk spots disappear, the ocean stays warm from months of stored heat, and the evenings turn from humid to comfortable. Everything that makes Downtown Ocean City great is still here. There is just more room to enjoy it. Labor Day weekend kicks things off with one
last splash of peak-season energy before the town shifts into its fall rhythm. Restaurants and bars along Wicomico Street and the bayside are still going strong, the Boardwalk is still buzzing, and the beach is still free, clean, and wide open. If you have never visited Ocean City after the rush back to school, then this is the month to find out what you are missing. The excitement starts early. OC Rock and Ride rolls into town September 9 through 13, turning the inlet parking lot into a festival of motorcycles, live music, stunt shows, and vendors. Created by local promoters, the event draws riders and spectators from across the East Coast and beyond. The
week also includes the annual Parade of Brothers on September 11, when the Red Knights Motorcycle Club leads a boardwalk ride to the Firefighter’s Memorial at North Division Street for a ceremony honoring those lost 25 years ago. The following weekend brings one of Ocean City’s most visually stunning traditions. The King of the Wind Kite Festival, now in its 48th year, fills the sky above the downtown boardwalk from September 17 through 20. Named for Kite Loft founder Bill Ochse, who helped earn Ocean City the title of Kite Capital of the World, the festival stretches from 4th to 6th Streets and features enormous Continued on page 3
OC Today-Dispatch/Discover Downtown
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September 2026
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OC Today-Dispatch/Discover Downtown
September 2026
Oceans Calling marquee OC event in September Continued from page 1 show kites shaped like dragons, whales, and mermaids. Quad-line teams fly in formation to music, candy drops keep the kids looking up, and the whole thing is free. The month closes with the biggest show of all. The Oceans Calling Music Festival returns to the beach and boardwalk September 25 through 27 for its fourth year, with more than 40 acts on three stages. This year’s headliners include Dave Matthews Band, Twenty One Pilots, and Mumford and Sons, with Hootie and the Blowfish, Gwen Stefani, Goo Goo Dolls, Third Eye Blind, Matchbox Twenty, and O.A.R. filling out a loaded weekend. Celebrity chef demos, local food vendors, and full access to Jolly Roger at the Pier round out the experience. Last year’s festival sold more than 50,000 tickets and generated over $100 million for the local economy. But events are only half the story. September is quietly one of the best months for everything else that makes Downtown Ocean City worth the trip. The ocean is often warmer in September than it is in June, and you can spread a blanket on the beach
without competing for space. If you have always wanted to try a beach bonfire, this is the month for it. The cooler evenings, smaller crowds, and spectacular sunsets make for an unforgettable night on the sand. Permits are available through the Fire Marshal, and all you need to bring are marshmallows and a group of friends. September is also prime time for Maryland blue crabs, which are at their largest and meatiest after a full summer of growing. You can drop a hand line off the bulkhead between 2nd and 4th Streets on the bayside without a license, or head to the Oceanic Pier at the south end of S. Philadelphia Avenue to fish for flounder, bluefish, and croaker as the fall run begins. Charter boats are still running and often with smaller groups, which means more time on the water and more fish per angler. The Boardwalk still stretches nearly three miles of rides, arcades, and food, from Trimper’s carousel at the inlet to the attractions near the Pier. When evening hits, the bayside dock bars serve the same cold drinks and stunning sunsets they have all summer, just without the long wait for a table.
Discover Downtown Ocean City OC TODAY-DISPATCH is the leading newspaper publisher on the Maryland coast, with OC Today-Dispatch publishing weekly on Friday, Bayside Gazette and Ocean City Digest publishing on Thursdays and Real Estate, the Coastal Real Estate Resource publishing key weekends throughout the year. On the Web: www.octodaydispatch.com Editor ......................................................................... Stewart Dobson Executive Editor ................................................................ Steve Green Account Managers ...................... Terri French, Mary Cooper, Renée Kelly Classifieds/Legals ............................................................. Pam Green Art Director....................................................................... Cole Gibson Senior Page Designer ....................................................... Susan Parks Senior Ad Designer ............................................................ Kelly Brown Publisher..................................................................... Christine Brown Administrative Asistant.......................................................... Gini Tufts
To Advertise in the OCDC Discover Downtown, Contact Terri French • 410-723-6397 EXT. 114
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OC Today-Dispatch/Discover Downtown
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September 2026
Walking tour shows off OC’s historic, architectural side Begin your walk where the town starts, at the inlet. The Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum sits at the southern tip of the Boardwalk in a building constructed in 1891 to house the brave surfmen who rescued mariners from shipwrecks that plagued the coast. After the Life-Saving Service became the U.S. Coast Guard in 1915, the station continued operating until 1965. The Town of Ocean City saved the building in 1977, relocating it from its original site on Caroline Street to its current location and opening it as a museum. Just behind it stands the Watch Tower, built by the Coast Guard around 1934 after the hurricane of 1933 cut the inlet. The tower also served as a lookout for German submarines during World War II. It is the only watchtower of its era still standing on the East Coast. Turn around and you are face to face with Trimper’s Amusements, where the Trimper family has provided a carnival atmosphere to the south end of town for well over a century. The gem of the operation is the 1902 Herschell-Spillman Carousel tucked inside the Trimper Rides
building, with its 45 hand-carved animals, three chariots, and a rocking chair. It is the oldest continually operating carousel in the nation. Five generations of visitors have taken a spin on these antique rides. Before heading north on the Boardwalk, take a brief detour west on South Division Street. At 101 South Division, you will find Henry’s Hotel, the last surviving hotel that once served only African American visitors during the era of segregation. Charles Henry and his wife Louisa purchased the property in 1926. Right next door at 103 South Division sits Cropper’s Fish Camp House, built around 1912. It was used as a filming location for the 1986 Columbia Pictures movie, “Violets are Blue,” starring Sissy Spacek and Kevin Kline. This house is the only remaining example of the commercial pound fishing camp houses that once dotted this part of town. Head back to the Boardwalk and walk north to the Pier Building, an oceanside landmark that has stood in some form since the first pavilion was finished in 1907. The current structure, erected Continued on page 6
September 2026
OC Today-Dispatch/Discover Downtown
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OC Today-Dispatch/Discover Downtown
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September 2026
St. Mary’s Star of the Sea OC’s oldest existing building
12/31/26
Continued from page 4 around 1926, is Ocean City’s only example of entertainment-related seaside architecture. Its neoclassical design has anchored the Boardwalk’s social and commercial life for a century. Continue north to Somerset Street, where the Atlantic Hotel greets you from the Boardwalk. This four-story, H-shaped frame hotel replaced a Victorian original that burned down in 1925 and has been owned and operated by the Purnell family since the 1920s. It remains one of the first hotels to offer accommodations to the public in Ocean City. Turn west on Dorchester Street and you will pass the Museum of Ocean City, a restored 1910 building that once served as the town’s first bank and later a grocery store. Exhibits cover the Indigenous peoples of the area, Ocean City’s hotel and restaurant history, and the people and places of downtown. Walk a block west and you will meet the Tarry-A-While Guest House at 108 Dorchester, a rare survivor of the town’s late 19th-century architecture. Built in 1897 as a guest house, this unadorned structure could accommodate 25 guests and was one of the
Museum of Ocean City
first houses to offer running water in each bedroom. Continue north on Baltimore Avenue to St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Catholic Church. This house of worship was erected in 1878, just three Continued on page 12
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September 2026
OC Today-Dispatch/Discover Downtown
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OC Today-Dispatch/Discover Downtown
September 2026
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OC Today-Dispatch/Discover Downtown
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OC Today-Dispatch/Discover Downtown
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September 2026
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OC Today-Dispatch/Discover Downtown
September 2026
Page 11
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OC Today-Dispatch/Discover Downtown
September 2026
Walking back in time
GREAT GAMES! GREAT PRIZES! GREAT FUN! Create A Family Tradition As So Many Families Have Since 1963
Continued from page 6 years after the town’s founding, making it the oldest existing building in Ocean City. Why a church of this quality was built when almost no one lived here year-round is a question that still fascinates historians. At 3rd Street, two landmarks share the block. City Hall, on the northwest corner of Baltimore Avenue, began life in 1915 as a college, became a county school, and graduated its last high school class of 22 students in 1954 before the Town of Ocean City later acquired the building. Across the way, St. Paul’s By-theSea Episcopal Church was constructed in 1901 on exposed pilings to let storm surges pass beneath. It features beautiful stained-glass windows. Now head to the Boardwalk at 3rd Street to begin your northward journey. The Shoreham at 309 Atlantic is a four-story mixed-use building constructed in 1925 with clapboard siding and a steeply pitched gable roof, a fine example of the architectural style that defines this part of town. At 5th Street, the Ambassador Inn was built in the early 1930s and fully restored in 2007, featuring a distinctive deep recessed porch topped by a full third story. Continue north on Baltimore Avenue and you will reach the Atlantic
House at 501 Baltimore, built in 1929 with decorative frieze boards and dentils at the dormer gables. It was once a longtime bread & breakfast but now serves as employee housing. Two blocks further, the Joseph Edward Collins House at 710 Baltimore Avenue stands as one of downtown’s most unique residences. Collins purchased the lot in 1944 and built this Art Moderne home five years later, complete with curved facades, glass block accents, flat roofs, and steel pipe columns. Next comes the Lankford Hotel at 807 Atlantic Avenue, built in the 1923-24 era by Mary Quillen, who named it for her aunt Amelia Coffin Lankford. Its three-story round columns and double-height covered entry make it one of the best-preserved older hotels in town. Your walk ends at Beach Walk on the Ocean (historically known as the Inn on the Ocean), 1001 Atlantic Avenue. Built in the 1930s in the Craftsman style with exposed rafter tails, deep porches, and shed-roof dormers, it was once the only traditional seaside bed and breakfast in Ocean City. Now it is time to kick off your shoes, settle into the porch, and take in the view. You have just walked through 150 years of Ocean City history, and you have earned your rest.
September 2026
OC Today-Dispatch/Discover Downtown
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OC Today-Dispatch/Discover Downtown
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September 2026
Downtown Events Sept. 6 OC Cruzers Classic Car Show at Somerset Plaza
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ADMISSION
$10 - One-time access to both museums for the week
Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum 813 S. Atlantic Avenue at the Inlet
$6 - Single-day access to one location FREE for children ages 11 and under
The OC Cruzers close out their 2026 summer series with two final shows in September. This week features classic cars alongside live music from Full Circle Duo. Stroll Somerset Plaza and check out an array of hot rods, muscle cars, and custom classics. Free to the public and family friendly. Shows take place from 3 to 6 p.m. on Somerset Street between Baltimore Avenue and the Boardwalk.
10 am - 5 p
Exhibits
Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum
• Wreck in the Offing • Aquarium Room • NEW 100 Years of Bathing Suits
Museum of Ocean City
Museum of Ocean City 217 South Baltimore Ave.
• Assateague People and Their Landscape • Ocean City’s Restaurants and Hotels • Historic Downtown People & Places • Lot 48
Sept. 13 OC Cruzers Classic Car Show at Somerset Plaza The final OC Cruzers show of the 2026 season brings classic cars and a DJ to Somerset Plaza one last time. Free to the public and family friendly. Shows take place from 3 to 6 p.m. on Somerset Street between Baltimore Avenue and the Boardwalk.
Sept. 9 to 13
Sept. 17 to 20
OC Rock and Ride
King of the Wind Ocean City Kite Festival
Ocean City’s motorcycle rally returns to the Inlet parking lot with live music, stunt shows, vendors, factory demos, and the Boardwalk Motorcycle Parade. Created by local promoters and now in its multi-year run, the event draws riders and spectators from across the East Coast. Concerts take place at both the Inlet and the Convention Center throughout the week. For more information, visit ocrockandride.com.
Sept. 11 Parade of Brothers, Memorial Ceremony
Open Dailym
proximately 8:30 a.m. The public is welcome.
On the 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, the Red Knights Motorcycle Club hosts the annual Parade of Brothers, a Boardwalk ride from 27th Street south to the Firefighter’s Memorial at North Division Street. A ceremony featuring an honor guard, bagpipes, and a wreathlaying takes place at the memorial following the ride. The Ocean City Volunteer Fire Company participates in the memorial services beginning at ap-
Now in its 48th year, this free, world-class kite festival fills the sky above the downtown boardwalk between 4th and 6th Streets. Giant show kites shaped like dragons, whales, mermaids, and more soar above the beach while quad-line teams fly in formation to music. Candy drops for kids take place on Saturday and Sunday. All events are weather and wind permitting. The festival runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. More information at kiteloft.com.
Sept. 25 to 27 Oceans Calling Music Festival The Oceans Calling Music Festival returns for its fourth year on the beach and boardwalk at the Inlet, with more than 40 acts on three stages across three days. Friday headliners include Dave Matthews Band and Hootie and the Blowfish. Saturday features Twenty One Pilots, Gwen Stefani, and Goo Goo Dolls. Sunday brings Mumford and Sons, Matchbox Twenty, and My Morning Jacket. Celebrity chef demos from Robert Irvine and Antonia Lofaso, local food vendors, and full access to Jolly Roger at the Pier round out the weekend. Tickets and more information at oceanscallingfestival.com.
September 2026
OC Today-Dispatch/Discover Downtown
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OC Today-Dispatch/Discover Downtown
September 2026