Southport Magazine

What: Phlock to the Beach Festival
When: Friday-Sunday, August 22-24
Where: Various locations throughout Southport and Oak Island
Cost: Varies per activity
Info: www.southport-oakisland.com
(910) 457-6964

Folks dance the conga line during last year’s Phlock to the Beach outdoor concert. Courtesy photo

Grab your island shirts, grass skirts, and straw hats—it’s time for all Jimmy Buffett fans (better known as Parrotheads) to get into party mode for Phlock to the Beach, a Buffett-Style Beach Bash! This year’s Phlock to the Beach will be held Friday through Sunday, August 22nd through 24th, in the Southport-Oak Island area. This event will be compiled of beach-friendly competitions, a breakfast overflowing with pancakes, a chance to bring out your artistic side, and so much more.

Friday, August 22nd

Pub and Grub Crawl
Just like last year’s Phlock to the Beach, the Pub and Grub Crawl will be making an appearance a second time around because of the positive feedback from our locals. “It’s something different, and we found the residents thoroughly enjoyed it,” Karen Sphar, Executive Vice-President of the Southport-Oak Island Area Chamber of Commerce, encourages. Dust off your sailor hats and strap on your island mentality to prepare yourself for an afternoon of libation and fun!

Select the Pub and Grub Crawl for either Southport or Oak Island, and purchase advance tickets at the Chamber Welcome Center (4433 Long Beach Rd. SE) or through the chamber’s website, www.southport-oakisland.com.

Oak Islanders will board the trolley at 5 p.m. at the parking lot of Oak Island Town Hall, 4601 E. Oak Island Drive. The trolley will be making stops at the Fish House Restaurant, Duffers Pub and Grill, The Grape & Ale, Oak Island Deli and Pub, and Shagger Jacks. Each stop will have a theme based on Jimmy Buffett.

The Southport Parrotheads will board the trolley at 5 p.m. at the parking lot of Slainte Irish Pub and Flights, 1513 North Howe Street. Stops include: the Dead End Saloon and Fish Factory and Grille, Blue Marlin Restaurant, Slainte Irish Pub, Flights, Silver Coast Winery, and Bella Cucina: Seafood, Pasta and Pizza.

Don’t forget to dress like you are on the islands! Bring your Buffett-themed apparel for your tropical trolley tour.

Participants are responsible for their own drinks and food. There will be taxi cabs available at all points during the evening. A liability waiver and release form must be signed by all participants, who must be 21 years of age. Please bring a valid photo ID. Sponsored by Budweiser Designate a Driver, Landshark Lager, and Southport Magazine.  Please drink responsibly.

Saturday, August 23rd

Art on the Apron
Art on the Apron is new to the Phlock on the Beach series this year! As described by Sphar, it will be fun and colorful with great humor considering the Buffett theme.

Art on the Apron gives Southport and Oak Island residents the chance to bring out their inner artist via sidewalk chalk. Artists will have the chance to create a piece of non-permanent art on the apron of the Cape Fear Regional Jetport from 8 a.m. to 1 pm. The finished works will be on display during the concerts, which begin at 4 p.m.

There are a few rules, of course: This is a Jimmy Buffett-themed event and art must reflect the theme. Art must be appropriate for viewing by all ages. All mediums used by the artists on the airport apron must be non-permanent (tempura paint or chalk). Call (910) 457-6964 or visit www.southport-oakisland.com for more info.

A contestant participates in the 2013 Phlock to the Beach bocce ball tournament. Courtesy photo

Beach-Game Tournaments
Bring your friends and family to have a fun day of friendly competition and participate in three different beach tournaments by the Oak Island Pier, located at 705 Ocean Drive. The pier was built in 1955, rebuilt in 1972 and again in 1992. Coming in at 27 feet above sea level, the pier is the tallest in North Carolina.

From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., tournaments will run in bocce ball, horseshoe, and corn hole. Tournaments will run as two-person teams with single elimination. $40 per team to enter, which includes two event t-shirts, and two tickets to the Phlock on the Beach concert. Trophy to winning team. Each tournament is limited to the first 20 teams. Registration and packet pick-up take place at 8 a.m. at Oak Island Pier, or register online www.southport-oakisland.com/index.php/p/75/phlock_to_the_beach.

Outdoor Concert and Contests
After you’ve played your best at the tournaments at the Oak Island Pier, reward yourself with an outdoor concert you won’t want to miss located on the backside of the apron of the Cape Fear Regional Jetport, 4019 Long Beach Rd. SE. Two bands will be performing for the night: Latitude and the “Carolina ‘pyrate’ rock” of Scearce and Ketner.

“These two bands are very recognized by our locals and others around the states,” Sphar affirms. “They are fantastic musical acts, and we will have great food and beverages to complement the evening. This year there will be a lot of excitement because the concert will be on the backside of the airport and the hangar will serve as a backdrop for the stage and will hopefully bring a little shade.”

Latitude will play from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Michelle, a keyboardist and vocalist, and Tom, a guitarist and vocalist, make up the band. They have been performing together since 1996 and have played all around the United States as well as parts of Europe and the Caribbean. Latitude has had the opportunity to open for Third Eye Blind, Exile, Frankie “Sea Cruise” Ford, Clarence “Frogman” Henry, and American Idols Reuben Studdard and Ace Young. Today they continue to tour worldwide and live back and forth in their homes in Pawleys Island, SC and Punta Gorda, FL.  For more info visit, www.tomandmichellemusic.com.

Scearce and Ketner are an acoustic duo hailing from Swansboro, NC. They’ll follow Latitude and keep the tunes rolling ’til 10 p.m. They perform a wide variety of melodies we all know and love, including songs from their album “Abducted.” Music lovers will find this pair performing in restaurants and clubs, and they have appeared anywhere from Boston, MA all the way to Key West, FL. For details, visit www.scearceandketner.com.

Free contests will take place during the concert, too. When the band takes a break, prepare to show off those island tattoos or bare that beautiful chest hair for a chance to win! Featured contests are Mr. Longitude, Ms. Latitude, Jimmy Buffett Look-A-Like, Grass Skirt Hula,  Best Tropical Tattoo, Hairiest Chest, and Hula Hoop.

Gates will open at 3 p.m., and there will be plenty of parking. Shrimp baskets and fish sandwiches will be provided by Wallace Catering; Turtle Island Restaurant and Catering will offer beer, wine, chicken wings, hamburger sliders, and Italian sausage sandwiches. Wine will be available from Silver Coast Winery, while Papa John’s Pizza will have pizza and Pepsi products.

Advance tickets are $10, or purchase them at the door for $15. Children 15 and under are free with adult paying admission. Tickets are available at the Chamber Welcome Center (4433 Long Beach Rd. SE) or through the chamber’s website, www.southport-oakisland.com.

Sunday, August 24th 

All-You-Can-Eat Breakfast
After you’ve played all day on the beach and danced the night away listening to two amazing bands, bring your appetite for a pancake breakfast! The all-you-can-eat breakfast includes pancakes, sausage, juice and coffee from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Cape Fear Regional Jetport. This is an event of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Chapter 939. For just $5 per person, all proceeds will benefit EAA Chapter 939 and will help send a young leader to the EAA Air Academy Camp. For more information contact Richard Largent (301) 801-3725.