CRESTVIEW — The potential for this year’s Triple B Festival attendance to top last year’s 13,000 means more than folks enjoying food and music.
The Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce’s largest fundraiser — 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. March 19, downtown — brings a proverbial rising tide that floats many boats.
Some downtown businesses seize the opportunity to open on Saturday to show off their wares and services. Exhibitors sell everything from hand-crafted ceramics to new cars and trucks. Attendees window shop and plan to return later to visit shops that interest them.
In other North Okaloosa County towns, community festivals are opportunities for neighbors to gather, local vendors to showcase handmade crafts or produce, and civic organizations to raise funds, selling everything from burgers and barbecue to boiled peanuts and pork cracklin’s.
Here are some area festivals and their impact:
Triple B: Blackwater, Bluegrass and BBQ Cook-off, March 19: During this daylong barbecue competition, Crestview’s biggest annual downtown festival, two stages on both ends of Main Street provide live music while the aroma of smoky barbecue fills the air.
Artists, crafters, community organizations and vendors line the street, and new and classic cars are on display, drawing folks from throughout Northwest Florida, south Alabama and beyond.
“We drew people from all over,” chamber of commerce President Valerie Lott said. “And getting some of the bands we got this year, they’re really popular in festivals around the area. And of course people aren’t just going to listen to the band. They’re going to buy some stuff and hang around.”
Profits are cycled into chamber community events and programs, benefiting members and the community as a whole, Lott said. “It’s a good impact for downtown and for the entire city,” she said.
2015 attendance: More than 13,000
2015 revenue: $34,000
Average Joe Car Show, April 16: More than 100 classic cars and trucks will line Main Street for the Spanish Trail Cruisers’ 16th annual event, a fundraiser that will primarily benefit the Okaloosa School Nutrition Association Scholarship Fund.
This year, the Crestview Centennial Committee will partner with the Cruisers to celebrate the city’s 100th birthday with a party — and cake — toward the end of the car show. And, for the first time, “we will have cash prizes for the top entries,” member George Kennedy said.
2014* registrants: approximately 130
2014 attendance: 5,500-7,000
2014 revenue for charity: $2,500
* Note: The 2015 car show was canceled due to severe weather
Laurel Hill Arts and Heritage Festival, April 30: The festival, presented by the Laurel Hill and Crestview Presbyterian churches, “is an opportunity to bring artists, crafters and live music to folks in the rural northern part of the county,” the Rev. Mark Broadhead, pastor, said.
Organizers charge no booth space fees or commissions on vendors’ sales, but through selling of baked goods, hamburgers and plants, the churches usually recoup expenses and have some money leftover for community service work.
2014* attendance: estimated at 300
2014 revenue: approximately $100
*The 2015 festival was canceled due to severe weather
Military Appreciation Recognition Celebration, May 21: The daylong festival in Spanish Trail Park features live music, food, classic and show cars, games and static military displays.
“This year we will feature the North Okaloosa Community Band,” MARC founder and coordinator Bob Lynn said. “We will have three Mustang clubs there with their cars, and we are supposed to have two motorcycle groups as well.”
This year’s MARC is an official Crestview Centennial Military Event. Admission, food and games are free.
2015 attendance: More than 1,000
2015 revenue: $10,000, benefits local service members and organizations
Hobo Festival, Oct. 1: Gene Clary Park sets the stage for live music, arts and crafts, food and games and bounce houses. Balancing the festival’s fun side is a mission of community improvement through revenue raised by festival sponsorships and booth space rentals.
“We’re trying to take money to do improvements at Gene Clary Park, and we’re considering doing a scholarship this year,” Mayor Robby Adams says.
2015 attendance: 1,750
2015 revenue: $0
Downtown Fall Festival, Oct. 29: The Main Street Crestview Association’s annual event focuses on Halloween-themed fun with crafts, food vendors, trick-or-treat opportunities at each booth, and a costume contest.
2015 attendance: 10,000-12,000
2015 revenue: $2,500
Baker Heritage Festival, Nov. 5: This annual fall event, a Baker Block Museum and North Okaloosa Historical Association fundraiser, celebrates all things North Okaloosa.
The festival, held among old buildings in the museum’s adjacent Heritage Park, features folkways demonstrations, regional music, food, Indian heritage displays and presentations, and displays by school and community groups.
“It draws a large crowd to the Baker community, and it also showcases the museum’s many exhibits and the heritage skills and traditions that are demonstrated,” museum Director Ann Spann said.
2015 attendance: 3,000
2015 revenue: $7,000
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Festivals' financial impact on North Okaloosa communities