'This is a heavy lift': Niceville City Council hesitant to bring back Mullet Festival

NICEVILLE — From 1976 to 2019, the Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival was a yearly mainstay in Okaloosa County.

With a traditional fish fry paired with some of the biggest names in county music, the festival was one of the most significant events along the Emerald Coast for more than 40 years. But with declining revenue and attendance figures in its later years, the last mullet was deep-fried in 2019.

After four years, a group called White Hat Productions is looking to revive the festival that will bring big names and allow the city to live up to the official slogan "Home of the Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival."

After two meetings on the issue, the Niceville City Council agreed to have a third next month, yet city officials are hesitant to give the go-ahead to bring the festival back.

Here is what we know.

How did we get here?

On Oct. 10, Matt McKinnon and Mark Wagner went before the council to see if there could be a collaboration between their production company, White Hat Productions, and Niceville on reviving the Mullet Festival.

What followed was a lengthy discussion on what a revived festival would look like.

According to White Hat Productions, the festival would have tickets for only $10, with free admission to children 10 and younger. Sundays would be alcohol-free, and military members and Okaloosa County employees could receive reduced or free entry.

Also returning would be the Miss Mullet Pageant, food courts and local vendors. Plus, big-name musical acts along with an assortment of local artists.

Councilwoman Cathy Alley raised concerns about the time commitment White Hat Productions was requesting because she is working on a project to bring a sports complex to the site. McKinnon said that if the festival did come back, it could be discussed annually and it could be moved from the traditional area.

Following the meeting, all members of the board who were present showed trepidation, and the discussion was tabled until November under the direction of Mayor Dan Henkel.

Questions remained that needed to be addressed by the November meeting. Among them: parking and traffic concerns and what would be required from the city, such as public safety.

Between the first meeting on Oct. 10 and the second meeting on Nov. 14, a poll by Christopher Saul of the Mid-Bay News asked whether residents would be open to seeing the festival return. With 300 participating in the survey, 68% say they would favor the return.

Parking and traffic issues

As the second meeting began, Henkel said the festival grounds could not be used as a parking location.

"Those grounds are used heavily by sports, and we tear them up every time," he said.

A solution to the parking situation was the use of a shuttle. Another possibility was using the nearby Northwest Florida State College parking lots, though White Hat Productions said they hadn't had discussions with the college yet.

That revelation drew criticism from Councilman Sal Nodjomian and City Manager David Deitch.

"I think this is still premature for us," Nodjomian said. "Parking is one of the big things that has to be identified. If you haven't even met with Dr. (Devin) Stevenson yet, I'm not sure why we're having a meeting, to be honest with you."

Deitch then asked whether the college may run into with liability if patrons leave the event and get into an accident on campus grounds. He also raised concerns about safety on nearby roadways if attendees drive drunk when leaving the festival grounds.

“The parking issue is going to keep going,” McKinnon said. “That’s not something that I think we can solve today. It’s not something I think we will solve tomorrow. We still have to find other locations for parking. That’s why, if you look (at the documents provided), we went really heavy on shuttles because we have to find and work with other community leaders and business leaders. We’re going to find that location, but the more time we spend not getting an answer, we lose some of the top-name artists.”

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Staffing and public safety concerns

Public safety was another big concern of city staff.

"We do not have the manpower to support this," Public Works director Johnathan Laird told the council. "Our biggest thing was about the number of personnel and fire safety because of how big it really is."

Niceville Chief of Police David Popwell and Fire Chief Tommy Mayville said their the main issue would be having to pay overtime for officers and firefighters to be on duty during the event.

According to documents submitted to the council, the production company looks to cover all overtime costs from Niceville public safety departments and Okaloosa County EMS with a $95,000 reimbursement.

For security concerns, Popwell noted that the main priority of the police department would be ground security and to curb criminal activity while on festival grounds. Traffic control on the nearby roads would fall under the supervision of the production company.

"This is a heavy lift," Deitch said. "It was in the past, and I anticipate this will be again. In years past, the commitment from the city was almost entirely from the public works department, police department and fire department and there are other residents in the city that we need to take care of.

"What I don't know is, what is the ask for my people? Is it 20 police officers and 10 firemen and 30 public works guys for eight hours or three days? You've offered me no specifics," Deitch said.

What's Next?

As the discussion concluded, Councilman Abner Williams made a motion to accept the business proposal on a contingency that the production company could answer all the questions raised by the council. The motion passed 5-0.

A third discussion is expected at the meeting on Dec. 12.

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Questions still loom about a revival of the Mullet Festival