Brevard County approves Cocoa Beach race grants; renaissance festival's future up in the air

Tyler Vazquez, Florida Today
·3 min read
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After months of back and forth, the Brevard County Commission voted Tuesday to give grant money to two major sports events in Cocoa Beach this coming year.

For the last several months, participants and organizers of special events have sparred with county commissioners over the future of events such as the Space Coast triathlon and the Space Coast Renaissance Festival.

Although the Commission previously voted against funding the events, repeated appeals from organizers, participants and the city of Cocoa Beach resulted in the two popular running events, which have long attracted visitors to the area and generated revenue for the county from hotel bed taxes, receiving grants Tuesday night.

Funding special events with tourism tax money through the county's Tourism Development Council has come under further scrutiny this year as efforts led by Commissioner John Tobia to ask for detailed line-item budgets from event organizers have been successful.

Mitch Varnes, who organizes the Cocoa Beach Triathlon and Duathlon and the USA Beach Running Championships butted heads with Tobia early in the process but ultimately received grants after they were approved in a 3-2 vote Tuesday with commissioners Rita Pritchett, Tom Goodson and Jason Steele voting in favor while Tobia and Rob Feltner voted against.

The February 6 Meeting of the Brevard County Commission in Viera. The meeting included many members of the public involved with the Brevard Renaissance Fair who were present to speak in favor of keeping the fair at Wickham Park in Melbourne.
The February 6 Meeting of the Brevard County Commission in Viera. The meeting included many members of the public involved with the Brevard Renaissance Fair who were present to speak in favor of keeping the fair at Wickham Park in Melbourne.

More: Brevard tourism grants go through with exception of Renaissance Fair, Cocoa Beach races

Those grants are:

  • $12,000 for the Cocoa Beach Triathlon and Duathlon, April 13-14 in Cocoa Beach, with swimming in the Banana River near the Cocoa Beach Aquatic Center, biking along State Road A1A, and running at the Cocoa Beach Golf Course.

  • $6,000 for the USA Beach Running Championships, April 28 at Shepard Park and nearby beaches in Cocoa Beach.

To qualify for a grant, events must generate at least 200 lodging room nights.

The grants are funded by the county's 5% tourist development tax on hotel rooms, vacation rentals and other short-term rentals and were previously recommended by the Brevard County Tourist Development Council.

Also denied grant funding this year was the Brevard County Renaissance Festival. Supporters and participants of the festival showed up to Tuesday's meeting decked out in period-inspired dress of the Middle Ages and Renaissance in hopes to show county leaders the popularity of their event. The festival's biggest hurdle to clear, however, is not grant funding but land. New rules instituted in recent months were designed to prevent large events from disrupting the normal usage of the Wickham Park. Those rules include:

  • Special event permits at Wickham Park will be limited to a maximum of 15 consecutive days or two consecutive weekends, Friday through Sunday.

  • For the months of January, February, March and April, at least one weekend per month will not have special events.

Organizers of the festival have said without the consistent use of Wickham Park, they may need to find a location outside of Brevard County, potentially drawing valuable tourism tax dollars elsewhere. Commissioner Rob Feltner said the county wants to continue working on a solution to prevent that outcome.

"I think it needs a bigger venue," commissioner Rob Feltner said. "We'll continue to work together and hopefully find a way for the Renaissance Fair to stay in Brevard."

For years, the County Commission routinely awarded grants to a variety of events that met certain benchmarks in drawing tourists, with the grant amount tied to the number of visitors the event drew.

But the grant program came under fire earlier this year when Florida Rep. Randy Fine raised concerns about the LGBTQ+ organization Space Coast Pride qualifying for a $15,000 cultural grant for its 2024 Pridefest event in Melbourne, based on the event attracting more than 1,000 out-of-county visitors.

Fine has had issues with previous Pridefests including a Drag Queen Story Time. However, Drag Queen Story Time was not part of the latest Pridefest, held Sept. 23.

The commission has since changed tack and has awarded grants to most of the organizations that had requested them.

Tyler Vazquez is the North Brevard and Brevard County Government Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-480-0854 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard approves sports grants; renaissance festival's future undecided