JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Southeast U.S. Boat Show and Oyster Jam has been bailed out.
The show, which was originally scheduled for this weekend at Metropolitan Park, was in jeopardy of being canceled after a conflict with the city bumped it from the venue.
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But the nonprofit Jacksonville Marine Association stepped in to try to salvage the sinking show and was able to get it scheduled with the city.
The show will now be May 19-21 at Metro Park.
Tickets issued for this weekend's event will be good for the new dates, organizers said.
"We appreciate the city of Jacksonville’s long standing commitment to the boat show," organizers said Friday in a news release. "The mayor and his team genuinely care about the success of this annual tradition and have provided us with tremendous support."
The boating community responded with outrage Monday after learning show organizers were locked out of the venue when they arrived to set up.
Jacksonville city leaders said Current Productions owed money from last year’s show that wasn't paid off until January and never signed a contract to reserve the date for this year. Because of that, the venue was already booked by Welcome to Rockville, which wanted extra time to set up before next weekend's concert.
Jimmy Hill, president of Current Productions, said that in the past, the city hasn't returned paperwork until the final weeks or days, which is why he didn't realize there was an issue until he showed up Monday and was locked out.
The hours for the May show will be 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. May 19, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. May 20 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 21.
For more information, go to www.southeastusboatshow.com.