The Midwest Venom Fest – an event that was scheduled for late this month in Festus and would have allowed vendors to sell venomous snakes – will not take place, after all.
Organizer Micky Meyer of Troy, who owns Show Me Snakes LLC, had requested a special event permit from the city of Festus to hold the event, but it was not approved.
On Monday, March 14, the matter came before Festus City Council members, but none of them made a motion to approve the request, so the permit was not granted.
City Administrator Greg Camp said city officials learned about plans to hold the Venom Festus on March 26-27 at the Quality Inn in Festus from the city’s Animal Control Department and then decided the organizer would need a special event permit before the event could go on.
Camp said there is nothing on the books that specifically prohibits such an event from being held, but Festus does have an ordinance that prohibits a resident from owning venomous snakes. That means if a Festus resident were to purchase a venomous snake at the event and take it home, that person would be violating the city ordinance.
“(Such a sale) takes a law-abiding citizen into violation of city codes,” Camp said.
He said if someone held an event and displayed venomous snakes without selling them, that would be permissible under Festus ordinances.
“A show with permission from the council would have been allowed without the potential sales to residents,” he said.
When council members discussed the request for the special event permit, they brought up a number of concerns.
“In a way, it’s like promoting something we don’t allow,” Ward 2 Councilwoman Staci Templeton said.
“This doesn’t look like a good idea to me,” Ward 3 Councilman Kevin Dennis said.
Before Mayor Sam Richards called for a motion on the request, Meyer said his company holds about 200 such events around the country each year.
On Tuesday, Meyer said he feels the council acted rashly. He also said he previously held venomous snake events at the Festus Quality Inn that went off without problems.
“We’ve had it there before,” Meyer said. “I believe we were there in October (2021). The only reason they had any issue this time is somebody who doesn’t like our shows called Animal Control. We’ve never had any problems before.”
Meyer said before he held the previous venomous snake shows in Festus, he contacted city officials and they told him he didn’t need special permission.
“The last time we called in and asked if we needed a special permit, they said no because it’s on private property,” he said.
Camp said he doesn’t believe anyone from the city told Meyer he didn’t need permission to hold such a show.
“If he has had a show like this before (in Festus), he did it without our knowledge,” Camp said.
Meyer said he has held the shows in other cities that prohibit residents from owning venomous snakes and he takes measures to ensure locals do not buy them.
He said anyone who buys a venomous snake at the events must show identification and the names of those who buy them are documented.
“I personally walk every venomous purchase out of the building,” Meyer said. “(The sales) are very, very tightly controlled.”
Meyer said he expected 15 to 20 vendors to participate in the Festus Venom Fest, which would have meant that a couple of hundred venomous snakes would have been in the Quality Inn for the event, and attendees would have had the opportunity to buy copperheads, cottonmouths and rattlesnakes.
“We also would have a couple of cobras for display,” Meyer said.
He said he is searching for another venue for his March 26-27 Venom Fest.
“We have people coming in from across the country,” Meyer said. “We’re looking for another spot to have it.”