UPDATE: The return of the Boating and Beach Bash has been postponed until 2023. Click here for details.
One of our favorite local nonprofit events, the annual Boating & Beach Bash for People with Disabilities, is returning early next year for its first normal iteration since the beginning of the pandemic. Billed as “the nation’s largest, free, one-day event for people with disabilities, both seen and unseen,” the event will welcome in-person attendees on February 20 at Spanish River Park.
Founded by the late, great Jay Van Vechten, the Bash has welcomed guests from across the country and around the world for a Spring Break party that is fully inclusive and accessible for anyone with disabilities as well as their loved ones and caregivers. It is the only event of its kind, offering activities including boat rides, special access to the beach and ocean with Mobi Mats, a Kids Fun Zone, therapy workshops led by trained specialists, wheelchair yoga, music, magicians, costumed superheroes, an artists’ corner, therapy ponies and dogs, a BBQ lunch, and more. Everything offered at the event is free of charge and available to attendees with special needs.
Entertainment for the 2022 event will include Mason Pace, Kendra Erika [Ed. note: read our profile of Erika by clicking here] and the Miami Lighthouse United Voices Choir. Find biographies of each of the performing artists below, via a press release.
Mason Pace (https://www.masonpacemusic.com/)
“From his origins in Boca Raton, Florida, Pace has opened for and headlined with acts like Cheap Trick, Joan Jett, Vince Neil, Ace Frehley, and Phil Collins. He released his debut album ‘Whateverland’ in 2018. He is now performing his second release, ‘King of Hearts,’ released in late 2021. Mason has also recently opened his home studio for business and offers his services as a producer under Mason Pace Productions.”
Kendra Erika (https://kendraerika.com/)
“Erika, a South Florida-based rising star with multiple top ten hits on the Billboard Dance music charts, is a siren whose voice is her superpower. Tone deaf as a child, she was determined to do the work necessary to overcome this setback. She spent years in classical training to learn how to sing on key. Today, her songs are streamed across the globe on Amazon, Spotify, and Apple with hits like ‘Self Control.'”
Miami Lighthouse United Voices Choir
“Returning to the stage will be 10-12 vocalists who are visually impaired or blind, and who sing with great passion and energy. ‘The Miami Lighthouse group is excited to rejoin the Bash lineup of featured entertainers,’ said new director Zachary Brown. ‘We will be performing secular and modern music, along with gospel, to get the crowd moving.'”
The 2022 Annual Boating & Beach Bash for People with Disabilities will be held from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Sunday, February 20, 2022, at Spanish River Park, 3001 North Ocean Blvd. (A1A), in Boca Raton. Organizers are seeking sponsorships, vendors, exhibitors, entertainment and local boat captains. Learn more and reach out at www.BoatingBeachBash.com or 561/715-2622.
