Air show attendees on the Atlantic City beach Wed., Aug. 25.

According to published reports, the Atlantic City beaches were not as crowded as they were in 2009 for the annual Atlantic City Air Show. However, it is estimated that the 2010 Air Show attracted roughly 650,000 people.

Check out video from the Air Show here.

Our photographer Nick Valinote caught all the action, including the shot above. Check back later today for an extensive photo gallery from the 2010 Atlantic City Air Show: Thunder over the Boardwalk, which celebrated the 100th year of air shows in New Jersey.

Johnny Sansone and Jeff Schwachter (Photo Lou Perri)

I was lucky enough to be a part of what I think was one of the most positive events Atlantic City has hosted in a long time.

(Of course, tomorrow’s Air Show won’t be too shabby either  — as long as the weather cooperates).

But what a celebration last night — the festival spirit, extraordinary camaraderie and New Orleans flavor were all in the air last night. It was really an amazing, amazing event. Applause now for Carmen and Nancy Marotta, who were calm, cool and collected during the scattered sprinkles from Heaven and did a wonderful job — as did their team, as always — to keep things steady and just go with the flow — or drizzling rain in this case.

The rain didn’t prevent the Mardi Gras on the Boardwalk series to commence on Monday, Aug. 23, where a packed Kennedy Plaza crowd enjoyed another concert in this wildly popular and much-needed music series for Atlantic City. For those who braved the sometimes showers, the sounds of Jumpin’ Johnny Sansone, Cyril Neville and his band, as well as the special last-minute addition of members of Bonerama, who play tonight (Aug. 24) on the Boardwalk at 6pm, on horns and harmonies. I also got the chance to play a couple tunes — including one of my own — with Sansone on accordion and harp, which was a real treat.

AC Weekly freelance photographer Nick Valinote took some great shots from last night’s event, which you can see in this photo gallery.

Also, occasional AC Weekly contributor Lou Perri took some great shots, which you can find here.

You can also find a lot of amazing shots from the concert last night courtesy of MojoPhoto by clicking here.

“No more rain! No more rain!”

The Atlantic City Free Public Library’s International Night performance scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 18, featuring Island Jam (pictured left) has been canceled due to inclement weather.
This performance will not be rescheduled as part of the International Night series, however Island Jam is tentatively scheduled to perform at the library’s Family Fun Festival on Saturday, Sept. 25 (on Tennessee Avenue next to the library, 11am-4pm).
The International Night Series finale (at Kennedy Plaza on the Boardwalk) is slated for 7pm Wednesday, Aug. 25, and will feature Bollywood Axion (pictured right).
For more information, call 345-2269, ext. 3112 or go here.

Manilow and Slater (from usmagazine.com)

The former Jet Blue flight attendant who has been in the news since quitting his job prior to an Aug. 9 flight met Barry Manilow after the singer’s Aug. 14 appearance in Atlantic City and got this pic taken with him.

Read more here.

Check out our latest find.

An image of Lady Gaga, snapped by our freelancer Nick Valinote, at the 2008 DJ Expo in Atlantic City when hardly anybody knew who she was.

Continue reading here to see the photo.

Robert Cray and AC Weekly editor Jeff Schwachter

The Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival, held July 29-Aug. 1, was a complete success. It was held during a beautiful weekend weather-wise, which brought foodies from all over into Atlantic City.

AC Weekly staffers attended several of the 40 events held at Harrah’s Entertainment’s four properties in town – as well as the kick-off party at the Chelsea – and had a blast.

One highlight for this writer was the Blues, Brews and BBQ event at the House of Blues featuring a concert by the Robert Cray Band and some mighty tasty food from Food Network stars the Neelys. (The BBQ spaghetti was simply amazing.)

Another mind-blowing event was the Grand Market at Bally’s. You had to be there to understand the massive size of this event, which included what seemed like hundreds of vendors offering information about their product(s) and offering samples.

I sampled some very hot coffee at one of the tables and wound up spilling it all over my red shirt. Thankfully, the friendly folks from the New Jersey Beer Company (njbeerco.com) gave me a T-shirt to wear. (Due to the tight-fitting medium sized Tee — see pic — I also got a larger T-shirt from the Brownies Squared table. The company, based in Mays Landing, bakes some delicious brownies, and I’m not just saying that because they lent me a shirt.)

NJ Beer Company homies with Schwachter (and his new T-shirt - thanks guys!)

John McCarthy and the rest of his N.J. Beer Co. crew — great tasting ale, by the way — happened to have their table set up right next to Atlantic City’s own Tony Boloney’s table at the Grand Market.

The night before, Tony Boloney’s owner Mike Hauke took the trophy in Guy Fieri’s Cheesesteak Battle. The next day Hauke was pretty much a legend as his pizza shop on Oriental Avenue was packed with people trying to get a taste of his prize-winning eats.

Tony Boloney's Mike Hauke with his Cheesesteak Battle trophy and Schwachter's pre-coffee-drenched shirt

AC Weekly associate editor Lori Hoffman filed a few reports over the weekend that you can read here, here and here.

Also, AC Weekly columnist David Spatz sent us this report from the four-day festival, which mentions the fact that two of the biggest names at the festival may each open a restaurant in Atlantic City in the not-too-distant future.

Paula Deen’s big event at the Atlantic City Food and Wine Festival, a party under a tent outdoors at Bally’s Dennis Courtyard, delivered a great combination of terrific food and delightful stories from the “Queen of Southern Cuisine.” Go here for the story.

Go here for video of Pat & Gina Neely and their “Play With Your Food” Event.

AC Weekly columnist Whitney Ullman with Guy Fieri. (Photo by Tom Briglia / PhotoGraphics Photography)

The Food Network sponsored Atlantic City Food and Wine Festival got off to a fabulous start Thursday night (July 29) at the official kick-off party at the Chelsea Hotel.

As promised, a ton of Food Network stars including Guy Fieri and Robert Irvine were on hand to mingle with fans and enjoy a cocktail or two and the sliders, spring rolls and other munchies circulating around the outdoor pool on the Chelsea’s fifth floor. Go here for the story

Youth Street Hockey class taught by Flyers legend Bob Kelly in Ocean City (Photo by Don Kravitz)

Inside this week’s issue, you’ll find a shot from the premiere of the film Dark Fall, which was held last Friday at the House of Blues in Atlantic City.

There is also a great photo gallery of the event up on our Web site. Click here to view it.

Also new on our Web site is a photo gallery taken earlier this week of Philadelphia Flyers great Bob Kelly, who will be a guest at this year’s Night in Venice Boat Parade in Ocean City, teaching Youth Street Hockey classes in O.C.

Now we know why his nickname is "Money." (Photo by Tom Briglia)

The above photo, captured by Atlantic City Weekly contributor Tom Briglia during the after party for the Diddy concert on July 3 — not the one at The Pool at Harrah’s that was canceled — at the House of Blues, features boxing star Floyd “Money” Mayweather chillin’ with some good old H20.

Now check out his watch.

He’s just asking for someone to try and snatch that $100 bill. Like anybody would ever try.