Photo: Facebook/LIVIT

This year would have marked the sixth annual Float Fest in the Texas Hill Country that area residents and tourists alike attended. Scheduled to be held at Cool River Ranch, festival-goers could camp near the San Marcos River, float during the day, and hear some top-billed musical acts in the process. Controversy loomed, however, as a result of the influx of crowds to the area, which residents of the small town of Martindale (with a population of approximately 1,300) took issue with. Several expressed their concerns to the commissioners citing the loud music, profanity, trash, traffic, and safety as being a problem. Despite a traffic study indicating only minor delays and no major safety issue, commissioners questioned the thoroughness of the report in the review of the event’s application. The final decision ultimately came down to the occupations code and how or if the Float Fest application met its requirements. Section 5 of the code states: “The times of the festival and the festival location create a substantial danger of congestion and the disruption of other lawful activities in the immediate vicinity of the festival.” Three of the Guadalupe County Commissioners voted that this section posed too great a concern to be ignored in this instance.