Gulfport's Gecko Ball Postponed

Rising COVID Numbers Put Pause on the Indoor Event

By Abby Baker

Photo by Cathy Salustri

Attention lizard lovers, organizers of Gulfport’s Gecko Ball – traditionally in late August – postponed the costume party until October 23. The culprit? Rising COVID-19 numbers and its Delta variant in Florida

The City of Gulfport announced the wavering date on Monday, August 9 via the city’s weekly newsletter just weeks before the original date of August 28.

However, the Gulfport Merchants Chamber made the decision to change the timeline of the indoor costume party celebration in the Gulfport Casino Ballroom.

“When we decided to go forward with the Gecko Ball this year we were confident in where COVID-19 was,” said Merchants Chamber President Barbabra Banno. “But with where the numbers are now, we want to do what’s best for the health of the community.”

Aside from the date, the biggest change is the reduction in tickets available – decreasing the already-reduced 400 tickets to 300 for the evening.

“The city was a little faster to announce this than we would have liked,” Banno said. “We don’t know everything yet, but it should be more or less the same.”

Tickets already purchased are still valid, Banno confirmed. It’s still unclear if other Gecko World festivities will be affected.