Santacon in Asbury Park in 2015. Paul Goldfinger photo.©, Today, December 8, 2018, is the latest edition. Drinking and partying all day is the theme.
Krampus character in A. Park. (Internet source.)
Paul Goldfinger, Editor BLOGFINGER.net
I saw a bumper sticker yesterday. It’s not the first time for this particular promotion. It says, “London, Paris, Asbury Park.” Whom are they kidding?
Last weekend they had a celebration of Krampus. That is an event where people get dressed up as mythical folklore figures. Krampus is associated with the “start of Yuletide.” (APP)
Santacon is this weekend. Young partygoers spend Saturday, December 8, 2018, dressed as Santa. Aside from hanging out in bars and drinking, there is not much culture evident.
Santacon 5K Run. A. Park, Dec. 8, 2018 Asbury Park Press photo.©
Despite their inflated self-opinion in Asbury, the place really is dead in Jan. Feb. and March. And speaking of the dead, A. Park will also have their annual Zombie reunion in October as they try to keep autumn alive.
Zombie Walk. A. Park 2014. Smiles are in short supply. Paul Goldfinger photo
An evolving theme for promoting the new Asbury Park seems to be casting the human spirit in a strange light. But these superficial costume events, although fun for the twenties crowd, will run out of steam eventually since they are always the same.
But then again, Bourbon Street never changes, however live jazz and marvelous street food is found up and down. And those elements in New Orleans represent a wonderful mix of historic and ethnic influences. Where is such a sweet melange found in A. Park? There are few African-Americans seen on Cookman Ave.
A city with multi-million dollar condos will have to up the culture level to match the price tags.
DR. HOOK:
In January 2019 there will be a weekend beer festival in A. Park
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My name is Kathy Kelly and I run the KrampusLauf in AP. This is our 5th year. I don’t think our event is “hipster” or lacking in depth and culture. In fact, I think it is specifically about community and storytelling.
We offer free walking tours about the folklore of yuletide through out the world, we have lectures and mask making. We raise money for charity through our Pictures with Yeti (which we have done for 12 years) and we have a film festival that encourages people to become active in the arts. During our Jersey Devil Festival we have free lectures and speakers that range from the premier folklorist in the country (Dr. Angus Gillespie) to noted Archeologist Dr. Richard Veit.
I think it is unfair to lump all things together to fit a narrative. I have been in business in Asbury Park for 12 years and I have invested much of myself into this community.
It is easy to be scornful of these events, but the Zombie Walk was created by 2 young people who wanted to help their community grow and help businesses by doing something fun. That was 11 years ago and it invited a lot of new people to our city.
Please don’t overlook those of us who ARE here and working diligently to promote community, culture, art and history.
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Kathy. Thank you for your comment. Point well taken. But it seems that you are not well informed about Blogfinger. We have published many posts showing Asbury in a terrific light including photographs and articles that reveal the unique emerging lifestyle that is developing over there. Our theme with regard to A.Park is that the two towns, AP and Ocean Grove, can compliment each other, offering a variety of experiences that will benefit both sides.
So you do need some perspective when criticizing our coverage of A. Park. You can do searches on Blogfinger.net and type in Asbury Park to see what we are up to. You do need to recognize, that the emerging A. Park presence will have a negative impact in certain ways on the town of O. Grove.—Paul @Blogfinger.
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My point was not on your coverage of Asbury Park as a whole but your inclusion of all of these events together without really looking at them. I understand that the emergence of AP will impact all of the surrounding towns and some will find that impact a negative, including people in AP (I myself have issues).
I would also say that OG, the camp meeting association, has had a negative impact on many people in AP and the surrounding areas, but is by no means representative of all OG.
All we can do is work together and hopefully make the impact positive over time. Sorry if I was not clear or if I took your inclusion of my events in your post about events with little or no cultural value or significance the wrong way. Thanks for your response.
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