Niceville's Mullet Weekend Came Back Without Its Festival

"MISSING THE MULLET WEEKEND IS BACK!" That headline comes from Bluewater Bay Marina's notice for October 16–18, 2026, and it says something no official calendar does. The Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival is not on the Niceville Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce calendar this October. The old festival website now shows a domain-for-sale page.

The weekend is still there, though. The third weekend of October has split into several smaller events at a marina, a brewery, a sailing club and the old festival grounds. Four months ago, the city council also approved a 30-year lease on those grounds. The lease keeps the land in Niceville's hands, but it doesn't put a festival back on it.

How the festival ended, and why the comeback stalled

The Chamber credits the original festival to one of its own presidents, Francis Walter Spence, who came up with the idea. The last one was the 2019 Boggy Fest, held October 18–20 that year. Admission was $15 on Friday, $20 on Saturday and $15 on Sunday, or $30 for a presale weekend pass. In September 2020, the Northwest Florida Daily News reported that the festival committee had decided to stop holding the event. The paper cited falling revenue and attendance on top of the pandemic.

In 2024, Emerald Coast Entertainment Group and White Hat Productions announced plans to bring the festival back in 2025, Get the Coast reported. Miranda Lambert and Jelly Roll were mentioned only as examples of the kind of headliner the promoters hoped to book, not as signed acts. The plan ran into a land problem. In December 2023, the Northwest Florida Daily News reported that under the land-use agreement between Niceville and Eglin, for-profit organizations could not hold events that generate revenue for their company. By October 2024, Mid Bay News said contract, lease, power and parking questions were still open. The city's long-term lease request was still working its way through Air Force and GSA review. No 2025 festival happened, and no promoter has announced a 2026 one.

That gap explains this year's calendar. Without one organizer selling tickets on one big lot, the weekend now belongs to whichever local hosts put something on it.

The weekend at a glance

In 2019, a full day at Boggy Fest cost $15 or $20 at the gate. This year, the single most expensive item on the schedule is a $20 shrimp plate, and most of it costs nothing to attend.

Bluewater Bay carries the mullet name

LJ Schooners Dockside Restaurant & Oyster Bar sits at the end of Bay Drive in Bluewater Bay. It is hosting three days of "Missing the Mullet" this year. The marina describes itself as sitting at the mouth of Rocky Bayou, inside Ward's Cove.

The schedule, as posted on Bluewater Bay Marina's event page:

1. Friday, October 16. The Remedy plays from 6 to 10 p.m. Specials include gator bites and a fried mullet plate with hushpuppies, slaw and baked beans, while supplies last.
2. Saturday, October 17. A dockside football tailgate with the games on and the weekend food specials.
3. Sunday, October 18. The Mullet Toss starts at 4 p.m., with children's, youth and adult divisions and prizes in each. Ronny Dean Garrett plays from 4 to 8 p.m. The Mullet Hair Contest is at 6 p.m.

The $5 toss registration fees go to Sharing & Caring. The hair contest is decided by popular vote. The Chamber's listing for the contest gives 4 p.m. in its description, but its header and the marina's own notice both say 6 p.m. The two sources also number the toss differently. The Chamber calls it the seventh annual and the marina calls it the sixth. Either way, the toss has outlasted the festival it was named after.

The same dock starts the month early. The Silly Witchy Water Paddle launches at 10 a.m. on Sunday, October 11. Paddlers are encouraged to dress in witchy costumes, and anyone in costume gets 10% off brunch.

Saturday spreads across town

Saturday, October 17 has the most going on, and the events are not in one place.

On the water, the 33rd Annual Single Handed Race puts sailboats out with one captain per boat. Bluewater Bay Sailing Club is named on the notice. The Chamber's listing says the start time will be set the day before. It puts a skipper meeting at 6 p.m. on Friday, October 16. The marina's version of the notice gives a different date for that meeting, so confirm with the club before you plan around it.

On John Sims Parkway, 3rd Planet Brewing Co. hosts Taylor's Tailgate, a Low Country shrimp boil, from 4 to 8 p.m. A shrimp plate is $20. Raffle tickets are 5 for $20, 10 for $40 or 30 for $100. The Taylor Haugen Foundation is the host, and the event supports its mission of preventing abdominal injuries in athletes. There will be live music, a GIF photobooth and tailgate activities.

The old festival grounds will be in use too. The Niceville Bazaar runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Mullet Festival Grounds, 598 FL-85, and admission is free. Freedom Life Compass hosts it. The Chamber describes vendor booths, local food trucks and crafts, with the proceeds supporting Freedom Life Compass services. The vendor counts on that page refer to past years and haven't been confirmed for 2026.

A free nonprofit bazaar is exactly the kind of event the site has long been able to host. The 2024 revival depended on a for-profit festival, and that is the kind of event the old land-use agreement did not allow.

The lease that secured the grounds

On June 9, 2026, the Niceville City Council voted 5–0 for Resolution 26-06-01. It authorizes the city manager to sign a 30-year lease with the U.S. Department of the Air Force for the roughly 47.6-acre property known as Twin Oaks Park/Mullet Festival Site. According to the council minutes, the first-year cost is $65,000. About $48,000 is cash, and the rest is paid through in-kind water, sewer and trash service. Each year the amount rises by 3% or the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower. The lease also lets the city walk away if future funding isn't available.

Councilwoman Alley said she was excited to see the agreement move forward after three and a half years. Councilman Schaetzle called the site an important part of the city's park system and community. Neither one mentioned a festival. Under the lease, the Air Force has to approve any improvements the city makes to the property. The city manager said the timing depends on the type of project, though he expected approval to be fairly quick by federal standards. No funded improvement plan has been announced. The public records we reviewed show the council's approval but not a signing date.

Most of the time, the site is used for more than an October lot. Mid Bay News has described it as home to the Howard Hill Soccer Complex, a disc golf course and the Thunderbird Intertribal Powwow venue. The same report called the athletic fields one of the few sports venues available in the city. The city's facility directory lists Boggy Disc Golf Course at College Boulevard and Highway 85, plus a city facility at 601 Highway 85 N, Twin Oaks Park. The June vote protects all of those uses for the next 30 years.

The golf course next door is changing too

The June discussion also covered the Air Force land next to the park. Eglin's golf course officially closed on December 1, 2025. In May 2026, the Air Force announced it had selected American Dunes Foundation and opened negotiations on a lease covering up to 603 acres for a golf course improvement project. The Air Force described the work as development, construction, maintenance and operations. At the council meeting, the city manager said the Air Force isn't expected to run the course itself anytime soon. If a private developer signs a long-term lease, the course becomes that developer's property, so the city can no longer count services there as credit toward its own lease.

So the stretch along SR 85 that once meant one festival weekend now has two long-term deals behind it. One is approved for the park, and the other is still in negotiation for the golf course. Neither one includes a festival. For October 2026, mullet weekend runs from 10 a.m. Saturday at a free bazaar on FL-85 to the 6 p.m. Sunday hair contest at LJ Schooners.

If you own in Niceville and want to know whether changes like the Twin Oaks lease and the golf course project figure into what your home is worth, Chris Carter and the team follow these local decisions closely. Get your free home valuation, and we'll walk you through what current sales near you show.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.