Atlantic City celebrates 58th annual Wedding of the Sea

Atlantic City, New Jersey, recently observed its annual ‘Wedding of the Sea’ festival, a tradition that has been held for 58 years. The event takes place every August 15 to coincide with the Feast of the Assumption, a major feast in the Catholic Church.

The ceremony involves a solemn Mass, a public procession to the beach, and a ceremonial wreath or ring toss into the Atlantic Ocean to bless the waters. The tradition originated in Venice, Italy, around 1000 A.D., as a way for the city to symbolically marry itself to the sea to show respect and gratitude for its water-dependent resources. In Atlantic City, the practice was brought by the local Italian-American Catholic community.