The Tickfaw 200, which was scheduled for April 29 to May 2, 2021, was dealt a devastating blow when their permit applications was denied again for the second consecutive year—forcing organizers Joey Fontenot and Casey Harrison to throw in the towel.

“We tried as hard as we possibly could,” Fontenot told Speedboat. “We took this to the top levels of decision-makers here because we wanted to let them know how important this was to us and our community, but they just couldn’t see it happening.”

The governing bodies that issue the permits cited “too many people congregating with no feasible ways to social distance.”

“They offered us alternative weekends to switch to, but I’m not going to do that to other events,” Fontenot continued. “You see, we have a circuit, a flow…and I’m not going to put someone else’s event out just to make ours happen. We’re not like that. The Tickfaw 200 is always the first weekend of May.”

The event, which was started by Blood River Landing owner, the late “Crazy Charlie” Albert in 1996, has grown to be one of the largest boating events in the nation, as well as one of the most popular. The run spans several days and covers well over 200 miles, which was incorporated into the name.

Fontenot and Harrison were quick to issue refunds to pre-registered participants last year, and intends to do the same for 2021, with an option to roll it into the 2022 event, which has been officially announced for May 4-7, 2022.

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