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The votes are counted, and “Cowboy Carnival” at The Balboa Fun Zone on October 18 wins for most fun event of the 2024 fall social season in Newport Beach.
Produced by the Balboa Island Museum, the annual “fun” raiser benefiting the museum’s yearlong free to the public exhibits, events, and community outreach was created with style and energy by museum executive director Tiffany Pepys Hoey working with the creative staff of Elite OC Productions led by Linda Young.
The Friday Night crowd arrived on the Peninsula at sunset, many traveling across the harbor on the Balboa Island Ferry, leaving SoCal behind and entering a transformed Fun Zone into a Texas Ranch dance party.
The James Kelly cowboy band rocked the outdoor dance floor as guests entered the party greeted by line dance instructors. Within minutes the rhythm of the night was set.
Some 200 guests explored the ranch, wandering through rooms all coming off the central dance arena. Cowboy carnival games entertained awarding stuffed pink pigs and brown horses to those with superior skills at the hatchet toss, one booth among others in the gaming arcades.
Among the fun elements of the evening: cowboy bars with specialty cocktails, a lavish charcuterie table created by Shawn Mastos, and a silent auction offering dining, travel, sporting, and holiday treats.
The evening was made possible with generous support from Texas Tycoon sponsors Julia and George Argyros, whose support over decades has sustained Balboa Island Museum for the entire community to enjoy.
Additional tycoon Shirley Pepys, museum founder and CEO, welcomed O.C. Supervisor Katrina Foley, Cathie Cook, Cynthia Shafer of Royal Hen, Steve Grosslight, John Scudder, Sue and Scott Sibley, Jim and Marleen Quandt, Paula Castanon and Clint and Kristen Burns among the carnival underwriters.
