Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival facts for kids
The Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival was a super fun annual event that happened in Niceville, Florida, United States. It took place every year on the third Friday in October, from 1977 until 2019. People loved going there for the music, delicious food (especially fried mullet fish!), exciting rides, and lots of cool arts and crafts.
The festival got its name from the mullet, a type of fish that lives in the local waters. It's a common mistake, but the festival was not named after the mullet haircut!
A person named Walter Francis Spence Jr. started the festival in 1976. The very first Mullet Festival happened on September 24, 1977. Soon, it grew into a three-day event, starting on the third Friday in October and ending on Sunday evening. In its later years, more than 40,000 people would visit the festival each weekend!
In 1989, a reporter named Chantal from ABC's "Good Morning America" even broadcast live from the festival! This happened on Friday, October 20, 1989. During the show, the festival's founder, Francis Spence, and a local person named James Campbell showed everyone how to catch and cook mullet fish.
The festival even made it onto TV shows! In 2009, a T-shirt from the Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival appeared in an episode of the HBO series "True Blood" (Season 2, Episode 3 - "Scratches"). Someone from the show found the shirt on a website they used to find clothes for the characters. Another Mullet Festival T-shirt also showed up on the CBS comedy "How I Met Your Mother" (Season 4, Episode 1).
The 2019 festival was the 43rd and final one. The next year, the COVID-19 pandemic happened. This, along with fewer people attending and less money coming in, caused the festival to end.
Music and Fun at the Festival
The Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival was famous for its amazing music lineup. Many popular country music stars and other bands performed there over the years. People loved to gather and listen to their favorite artists.
Some of the famous performers who played at the festival included:
- Montgomery Gentry
- Tracy Byrd
- Tyler Farr
- Tanya Tucker
- Frankie Ballard
- Chris Janson
- Justin Moore
- Joe Diffie
- Chase Bryant
- Martina McBride
- Dustin Lynch
- Vince Gill
- Kellie Pickler
- Jake Owen
- Colt Ford
- Florida Georgia Line
- Trace Adkins
- Brantley Gilbert
- Josh Turner
- Billy Ray Cyrus
- Blake Shelton
- Jason Aldean
- Sara Evans
- Rodney Atkins
- Kenny Rogers
- Travis Tritt
- Lonestar
- The Charlie Daniels Band
- Terri Clark
- Dierks Bentley
- Ricky Skaggs
- Diamond Rio
- Rick Springfield
- Rascal Flatts
- Tracy Lawrence
- Dixie Chicks
- The Temptations
- The Drifters
- The Platters
See also
- List of Florida food festivals
