For more than six decades, the South Shore Frolics was a Bay View fixture stuffed with parades, live music, festival food, classic car shows, games, and the “Blow Up The Beach” fireworks display. That tradition came to an end in late 2017, when the Bay View Lions Club (which had hosted the South Shore Park festival since 1995) announced the fest would not return in 2018.
And now, in case you were holding out hope that the Frolics would return this summer, the Lions would like to remind you that nope, it ain’t happening.
Here’s a message that was posted today on the Frolics’ Facebook page:
To answer all the questions we have received surrounding the South Shore Frolics in 2019, we are sorry to say there will be NO event this year nor in the foreseeable future. The Bay View Lions appreciate all the support Frolics goers have shown us over the years, and we truly sympathize with you over its loss. As we have previously stated, the skyrocketing costs involved with putting the Frolics on was to [sic] much for the Bay View Lions to sustain.
The permanent cancelation punctuates a long history of problems for the fest. The Lions canceled the parade in 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2016; the fireworks were the source of drama in 2016; and some neighbors continually complained about noise, litter, property damage, and an atmosphere they said no longer represented Bay View.
So, R.I.P. South Shore Frolics. Again.