Sunset at Ski Beach • Wednesday, August 12, 2026
An 11-piece horn band, four decades of Motown and Philly Soul, and a bayside sunset — free, family-friendly, and one of the most anticipated nights on this summer’s Ski Beach calendar.
Image: The Sensational Soul Cruisers, soulcruisers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/SensationalSoulCruisers-slide01.jpg
By 5:30 Wednesday, the lawn at Ski Beach will already be filling in the usual way — blankets staked out, folding chairs angled toward the bay, vendors setting up while the last of the afternoon heat starts to ease off. But this particular Wednesday carries a little extra buzz. When the Sensational Soul Cruisers take the stage at 6:30, Ventnor isn’t getting a cover band. It’s getting eleven musicians, a full horn section, and four decades of Jersey Shore soul history showing up on the bay at once.
This is the next stop in Sunset at Ski Beach, Ventnor’s free Wednesday-night concert series on the bay side of Ventnor Heights — a series that’s been voted Best of the Press Gold Medal concert venue three years running, in 2023, 2024, and 2025. If you’ve been waiting for the show worth rearranging your Wednesday for, this is generally considered one of them.
Sensational Soul Cruisers at Sunset at Ski Beach
Date: Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Vendors Open: 5:30 p.m.
Live Music: 6:30 p.m.
Genre: Motown, R&B & Classic Soul
Location: Ski Beach, Dorset & Burk Avenues, Ventnor Heights
Admission: Free
What to Bring: Lawn chairs or blankets
Who Can Attend: Family-friendly, all ages welcome
Who’s Playing: The Sensational Soul Cruisers
The Sensational Soul Cruisers aren’t a typical party band with a horn or two bolted on — they’re an 11-man horn group fronted by four vocalists, built entirely around classic Soul, Motown, R&B and Disco. Their signature show, Destination Soultown, is a full multimedia tribute to the era stretching roughly from the birth of Motown in 1960 through the early ’80s, touching on the sounds of Stax Records, Philly Soul and Carolina Beach Music along the way.
The band’s roots go back to Freehold, New Jersey, where the rhythm section first came together decades ago backing singer Eddie Testa as “Eddie and the Cruisers” — the same name that inadvertently inspired the fictional film of the same title. Under bandleader and saxophonist Steve “Screamin’ Steve” Barlotta, the group has spent more than 30 years building a reputation as one of the hardest-working live acts on the Jersey Shore, performing over 200 shows a year and sharing stages with acts like Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny, Gloria Gaynor and Smokey Robinson. They’ve also served as the long-running house band at New York’s famed Copacabana.
Eleven musicians, one horn line, and a catalog running from Motown to Michael Jackson — Wednesday night, all of it lands on the bay.
A Local Following Built Over Decades
Image: The Sensational Soul Cruisers, soulcruisers.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/SensationalSoulCruisers-010.jpg
Part of what makes this band such a natural fit for a Jersey Shore summer series is that they’re a genuine regional institution rather than a touring act passing through. Decades of steady shore-circuit shows — boardwalks, beach concert series, casinos and theaters up and down the coast — have built them a loyal, repeat following among people who plan their summer nights around seeing them again. For a lot of longtime Ski Beach regulars, a Soul Cruisers night isn’t a discovery. It’s a returning favorite.
The Sunset at Ski Beach Series
Ventnor splits its free summer concert calendar into two series with genuinely different personalities. Sunset at Ski Beach runs Wednesday evenings on the bay side of Ventnor Heights, at Dorset and Burk Avenues — open lawn seating, water views, and a slower, sunset-driven pace as the show unfolds. Its Saturday counterpart, Summer Beach Jam, takes over Newport Avenue Beach with the Atlantic as a backdrop and a louder, more high-energy crowd. Both are free, both start with food and craft vendors at 5:30 p.m., and both kick off music at 6:30 — but Ski Beach is where Ventnor goes to settle in, and this lineup, with an 11-piece horn band on the bill, is exactly the kind of night that series was built for.
What to Bring
Ski Beach is grass, not sand or bleachers, so a little planning goes a long way toward a good night.
- A lawn chair or blanket for the grass
- A light layer for later in the evening, once the bay breeze picks up
- Comfortable shoes for standing or dancing on grass
- Cash or a card for the vendors on-site
- Water, especially if you’re arriving early while it’s still warm
Arriving by 5:30 gives you first crack at the vendors and the best pick of lawn space before the crowd fills in for the 6:30 downbeat.
Weather Update: The current forecast for Wednesday, August 12 shows a modest chance of rain with otherwise warm, summery conditions. As always with an outdoor event, guests should check Visit Ventnor and Ventnor City Special Events for any last-minute weather announcement before heading out.
One More Reason to Love Wednesdays
Some Ski Beach nights are about the sunset. This one’s about the horn section that shows up right alongside it. Four decades of Jersey Shore soul, eleven musicians on one small bayside stage, and a crowd that’s going to be on its feet well before the last song — that’s Wednesday night in Ventnor.
Bring a chair, arrive early, and meet Ventnor beside the bay.
Sunset at Ski Beach • Wednesday, August 12 • 6:30 p.m. • Free
Dorset & Burk Avenues, Ventnor Heights
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