Council agrees to street closures for two fall events; open-container resolution for Sip & Stroll to return for vote

The Booneville City Council on Sept. 2 approved temporary street closures for the city’s annual Witchy Weekend and agreed to place a resolution on the next meeting agenda to consider lifting the city’s open‑container restrictions for the Sip and Strolling, Rocking & Rolling event. Organizers told the council the Sip event has drawn roughly 500 people each year and asked for an open-container allowance in a mapped, contained area for the Oct. 18 event.

Mary Pat Aubley, who identified herself as a co‑chair of Sip and Strolling, Rocking & Rolling, and Ken Hartlinger, a longtime Third Ward resident and co‑organizer, described the planned footprint for the event and repeated requests the council has granted in prior years for street closures. Aubley said the event’s footprint would be similar to past years, roughly Vine to High Street and Sixth to Third, with specific closures on Chestnut to Fourth and small half‑block closures on Main, Spring and Morgan streets so attendees can access parked cars. She said the event will include three afternoon music acts along side streets, VIP and general ticketed hours, a rain location at the Mercantile, and that concessions/vendors have returned each year.

Organizers said sponsorships and a ‘‘rockstar’’ donor program support the event; they named Line Bank as a sponsor of the evening headliner, Sea Rock City. Aubley and Hartlinger said proceeds are split roughly 50/50 between the Booneville Public Library and the Chamber of Commerce and that the event has generated more than $40,000 for those organizations over the last three years.

Council members approved the Witchy Weekend street closures after a motion, and the city attorney asked that any open-container resolution include a clear map so law enforcement can confine the allowance to specified blocks. City staff said they will place a resolution to lift the open-container prohibition for Sip and Strolling on the council’s next meeting agenda and will work with organizers to prepare an event permit and a precise map for police enforcement.

The council’s action on Witchy Weekend was a formal approval of street closures; the open-container request for the Oct. 18 Sip event will return for a separate vote with a documented map and an event permit.