‘A great way to embrace the Long Beach life’

Chamber of Commerce and city scavenger hunt aimed at supporting local businesses

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Get ready to assemble a team and brush up on the history of Long Beach. The Chamber of Commerce and the city will host a Scavenger Hunt on April 6 to highlight local businesses and quiz participants on how well they know the City by the Sea.

Chamber members expect more than 300 people — including locals and out-of-towners — to participate in the event, which will feature challenges and questions that will drive participants to local shops and restaurants. Each challenge that is solved wins points for the teams, which will each consist of four to six people.

“The City of Long Beach and the Long Beach Chamber created this event to drive awareness and business to our business district by providing a fun activity that will encourage visitors to explore our city and all it has to offer,” Chamber Chairman Ian Danby said in a statement.

The third event of its kind, the scavenger hunt will encourage participants to support local businesses in town while teaching them about the rich history of Long Beach.

The hunt will be coordinated by a mobile app called cityHUNT, which will provide all the challenges and clues and special offers for local shops. Organizers said the app-based company specializes in team-building events that create community excitement and entertainment.

“The Long Beach Scavenger Hunt is a great way to embrace the Long Beach life,” City Council President Anthony Eramo said in a statement. “Sign up with your friends to participate in a really cool weekend activity that takes place throughout the city. We are proud to partner with the chamber on these types of experiential events so we can shine the spotlight on our local businesses in a unique and exciting way.”

Long Beach held its first scavenger hunt with cityHUNT in 2015, where teams answered clues and captured the moment with their phone camera and uploaded the images using the mobile app.

This year, participants will take part in the first ever “Long Beach Best BITE,” a game in which players will visit certain restaurants for small plates of food and rate them one through 10 in the app based on how much they enjoyed them.

Local businesses sponsoring the event include Long Beach Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Harvest Power, Park Avenue Realty and Leah Tozer of Engel & Volkers, while Speakeasy, Swingbellys BBQ, Whale’s Tale, Baked by the Ocean, Pure Shore, Blacksmith’s Breads, Taqueria, Dr. Matt Cohen and the Long Beach Herald will be involved as well.

Participants are not permitted to use cars, taxis, Uber or other motorized forms of transportation, but are allowed to navigate the city-wide hunt on foot, bicycle or the city’s trolley, organizers said. Those under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

Chamber members said the scavenger hunt will be a fun event for locals and visitors alike, and that prizes will be offered to the winning teams after the event. The hunt will take place between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. and begin at Kennedy Plaza, located at 1 W. Chester St. To register, visit www.thelongbeachchamber.com. The cost is $12 per person.

“From dining and shopping to our rich history and amazing views,” Danby said, “we will show participants that Long Beach is a year-round destination with endless places to explore.”