Report: Sand Blast may not return to Atlantic City
Event had moved from Asbury Park over costs of vendors and venues
Sand Blast Weekend’s debut in Atlantic City drew a smaller crowd than its previous years in Asbury Park, and the event may not return to the gambling resort next year, according to a published report.
Founder Brad Hurtado said the gay- and lesbian-oriented beach party drew between 1,000 to 1,500 last weekend, the Press of Atlantic City reported today.
However, on Hurtado’s online resume he states that between 3,500 and 5,000 people attended the event over the 12 years it was held in Asbury Park [above, shown in 2012], according to the Press report.
The Press article states that “organizers will have to see if it makes financial sense” to hold the event in Atlantic City next year, while the paper quoted Hurtado as stating that the city was “acceptable and welcoming. The people in Atlantic City were extremely grateful and kind.”
From the Press of Atlantic City article:
The difference was the Asbury Park event primarily drew people from the New York City region, [Hurtado] said, with small numbers of people attending from New Jersey and Philadelphia. Many of the people from New York this year evidently did not travel the additional 63 miles down the Garden State Parkway.
The event moved to Atlantic City this year after organizers could not reach an agreement with venues and vendors in Asbury Park. As the event grew more popular, Hurtado said Asbury Park operators wanted more than the event could afford to pay.
Sandblast Weekend was launched twelve years ago in Asbury Park as “Road Trip.” The small party weekend “encouraged gays to come to [Asbury Park] to check out our real estate” and eventually evolved into a major four day event, Tom Gilmour, Asbury Park’s director of economic development, previously told the Sun.
The Garden State Film Festival [GSFF] also moved to Atlantic City this year after a decade in Asbury Park. That move was announced in August of last year after the state Casino Reinvestment Development Authority gave the festival $300,000. The GSFF made a three-year commitment to stay in Atlantic City. The festival made its debut there in April.
Atlantic City has been rocked by tough economic news the past few months. Four of the city’s eleven casinos may close by the end of the summer, threatening the jobs of 8,000 people and the economy of the region, according to published reports.
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