From the City of St. Augustine
At their February 22 regular meeting, the City of St. Augustine City Commission unanimously approved lifting the moratorium on permitting special events. For an event to be permitted, event organizers must submit a compliant plan with the “Events and Gatherings: Readiness and Planning Tool”, an 8-page document prepared by the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
Many events, including the Celtic Festival, St. Patrick’s Parade, Easter Parade, Drake’s Raid and the Lion’s Seafood Festival have cancelled this year. Rhythm and Ribs has permanently moved their festival date to the third weekend in October, and Festival of Chariots and The Lighthouse 5k have been postponed. However, several events are expected to take place soon, including:
- The Old Town Art Show on March 27-28
- The Blessing of the Fleet on March 27
- Coquina Church’s Good Friday in the Gazebo on April 2
- Family Fun Fest on April 24
- A Latin music festival on May 1
- The Alligator Farm Raptor Run on May 9
- And the “As If” festival, a 90s festival, on May 15
“We’re going in the right direction.… These events are crucial to the economics of our not-for-profit community that have suffered for a year,” Mayor Tracy Upchurch remarked at Monday’s meeting. “And when we weigh this, I’m willing to resume the spring events with the expectation that the application will have a COVID plan….”
For more information on permitting events, contact Kim Mayo, Event and Venue Coordinator at 904-825-1004 or via email at kmayo@citystaug.com. The application process for Francis Field Events can be found at www.CityStAug.com/eventpermit.
Media inquiries may be directed to Melissa Wissel, Communications Director, at 904.825.1053 or via email at mwissel@citystaug.com.
