Flora-Bama as a bastion of freedom: The Mullet Toss is on this weekend

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The fish will fly: Despite a global pandemic punctuated by a most inconvenient hurricane, the Flora-Bama’s famed Mullet Toss is back on the 2020 calendar.

The storied state-line roadhouse announced Monday morning that the 35th annual event will take place Oct. 23-25.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 shutdown, organizers had stubbornly refused to announce a cancellation, even as they pulled the plug on a triathlon, a golf tournament, a Memorial Day bikini contest, a fishing rodeo, fundraising runs and, most recently, the “Bulls on the Beach” rodeo.

Cameron Price, one of four co-owners of the Flora-Bama and related businesses, said the venue has scrupulously followed COVID-era mandates as they’ve shifted over the course of the year. But after following guidelines based on what people can’t do, he said, it’s time to celebrate what they can do.

“We’ve always kind of looked at the Flora-Bama as a bastion of freedom, and there’s been a lot of freedom taken away in 2020,” Price said.

“This whole year we’ve had nothing but people telling us what we’re not allowed to do,” he said. “You can’t do this, you can’t do that. We’ve abided by all the guidance, what governing bodies have told us we’re allowed to do and not allowed to do. Recently we got to a point where we are authorized to be able to do this, and so we said hey, let’s take advantage of that, let’s give all these people who have been told ‘hey, you can’t do this’ and ‘you can’t do that’ an opportunity to let loose and have a good time, come out an enjoy some outdoor fun, with social distancing at the right type of environment that’s not conducive to spreading COVID.”

Formally known as the Interstate Mullet Toss & Gulf Coast’s Greatest Beach Party, the Mullet toss capitalizes on Flora-Bama Lounge & Package’s state-line location. In the main event, participants line up at a launching point in Florida, from which they fling dead fish into Alabama, vying to set a distance record.

The spectacle draws thousands of people over its usual three-day run in April. An economic impact study of the 2013 event found it had drawn 35,000 people to the area -- and the study didn’t even attempt to count those coming from the Alabama side. Those who register to fling fish contribute to a fundraising effort that collects thousands of dollars for local charities.



“With President Trump pushing hard to get things reopened, and then our governor, Ron DeSantis, finally came up and said, ‘hey, look,’ when he did a press conference when he opened up all the bars to 100% capacity, he said ‘look, here are the facts,’” said Price. “We’ve got plenty of capacity in the hospitals, you look across the different demographics of who’s at risk, and what the fatality rates are of people who are infected with COVID-19 across the different demographic groups, and really, the survival rate for people 50 and under is almost 100%. He encouraged people to do large-scale outdoor events, obviously to continue social distancing, to take precautions as needed based on your age and your risk factors.”

Price said he hopes people will come out to support the Flora-Bama and its staff, who missed out on much of the income produced by the busy spring and summer seasons.

“It’s been a difficult year for Flora-Bama,” he said. “We need all the help we can get.”

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