///BY Mike Bahr
What makes Asbury Park’s three -day festival different from other gay party weekends is that in addition to its high -energy dance events, Sand Blast Weekend offers a wide range of relaxing beach activities to enjoy. If you’re feeling a bit sporty there are bike ride excursions, surfing and paddle board lessons , beach dodge ball games and a downtown art gallery walk. “We like to think of Sand Blast Weekend as the Atlantis Cruise of circuit parties ,” says event founder and executive producer Brad Hurtado . “There ’s always something new to explore and discover.”
Of course, there is also the weekend’s main soak-in-the-sun event, The Sand Blast Beach Party. This year’s event will have music by superstar DJs Tony Moran and Hector Fonseca, plus NINE other amazing high-energy events all weekend.
More than 4,000 gay men and women attended last summer’s event. This summer’s Sand Blast Weekend – taking place Friday, July 19, through Sunday, July 21 – promises to be bigger and wetter than ever better. Get Out! sat down with Hurtado to ask about what’s up for this incredible weekend.
Is Asbury Park ready for summer? Asbury Park escaped much of the devastation of Sandy. While our milelong boardwalk did get hit in two places, it was repaired by late spring. None of our boardwalk buildings were washed away. Sunset Beach, Convention Hall and The Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel, where many of the Sand Blast events take place, were all spared, so we are ready to bring the beats to the beach for Sand Blast 2013.
There’s a lot going on at Sand Blast Weekend this year! Yes, we’ve got 10 big parties spread over the three days, but we definitely want guests to explore all that Asbury Park has to offer. That’s the entire reason for Sand Blast: to introduce the gay community to our beloved beach town. So we encourage our guests to check out our boardwalk, funky downtown