Galveston Island Beach Revue Returns in May with Expanded Events and Salute to the Hotel Galvez

The 2011 Galveston Island Beach Revue, presented by Islander By Choice, LLC (IBC), will salute the Hotel Galvez & Spa as part of its year-long centennial celebration on May 20-21. The 2011 Galveston Island Beach Revue will offer live music on Friday night at Saengerfest Park, 23^rd and Strand. On Saturday, festivities continue with a lawn party hosted by the historic Hotel Galvez from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. leading up to the main event - the Bathing Beauties Contest at 2 p.m.

 

The 2011 event kicks off in historic downtown Galveston on May 20 with a free concert in the evening headlined by the John Evans Band and local favorite, The Brandon McDermott Band. Evans and his rockabilly band have dominated the Houston Press Music Awards over the last decade. Opening for Evans is local IBC and Gulf Coast favorite, Brandon McDermott Band, who’s flavor is a little bit country and little bit rock n’ roll.

 

On Saturday, May 21, the Bathing Beauties salute the Hotel Galvez on its 100^th Year. As part of the weekend, Hotel Galvez will host a live band, a variety of family-style games on the lawn (aptly named “Centennial Green”), and light refreshments – all free of charge while supplies last. Hotel Galvez & Spa, A Wyndham Grand Hotel, is the official hotel for the event.   

The Bathing Beauties Contest begins at 2 p.m. as participants compete in modern and vintage/vintage-inspired swimwear following a special salute to our nation’s armed forces.  The Bathing Beauties Contest will be held across from the Hotel Galvez on the sand at 21^st Street and Seawall. The cost for registration is $15.

 

Dubbed the “Pageant of Pulchritude” by C.E. Barfield, the Galveston beauty contest began in the summer of 1920 and from then on marked the kick-off for tourist season each year. By 1928, the event (which had morphed into the “Bathing Girl Revue”) had become so popular, the Island’s population was said to have tripled during the event weekend.  These Island pageants are said to have been the beginning of what we know today as the Miss Universe Pageant.  The famed Galveston Bathing Beauties contests ended in 1932 due, in part, to the Great Depression and were brought back to the island by IBC in 2009.

 

For more information on the Galveston Island Beach Revue, please visit www.galvestonbeachrevue.com or contact Adrienne Culpepper at 409-770-7360 or at adrienne@ibcgalveston.com. For more information on Islander By Choice, LLC, please visit www.ibcgalveston.com.