News Flash

Thanksgiving holiday hours for city offices and facilities

The City of Fort Walton Beach offices and facilities will have modified hours during the week of Thanksgiving to allow our employees to spend time with their families. Changes to normal operating hours for each office or facility are listed below.

All offi...

Kids Night Out Saturday, Dec. 9 at Recreation Center

The Fort Walton Beach Recreation Center will hold a Kids Night Out event on Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023 from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The event is for children in grades 1st through 5th, and will feature arts and crafts, games, music, dancing, cookie decorating, hot...

Holiday garbage pick up schedule

Our schedule for trash, yard waste, and recyclable pick up will be modified during the upcoming Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day holidays. Please note the changes that may affect your regular schedule for collection of these items. We thank you...

Fourth annual Winter Wonderland expands to new location; two days

The Fort Walton Beach Police Department will be holding its 4th Annual Winter Wonderland event Dec. 8-9, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Fort Walton Beach Fairgrounds. Come take a tour of our Winter Wonderland village of Christmas houses, each one constructe...

Fort Walton Beach’s two cemeteries

Did you know that the City of Fort Walton Beach manages two cemeteries within its city limits?

The largest is the 40-acre Beal Memorial Cemetery. The cemetery is named after Dr. James Beal (1861-1945). Born in Ohio, Beal founded the Scio (Ohio) College of...

Fort Walton Beach Police, Library participate in Junior League' Chlld Clothing Project.

The City of Fort Walton Beach is proud to have the Fort Walton Beach Police Department and the Fort Walton Beach Public Library representing the city in the Junior League of the Emerald Coast’s annual Child Clothing Project.

The project provides clothing t...

City Council summary for Nov. 14

The Fort Walton Beach City Council approved a new restroom facility for Jet/Holmes Park and a nature trail following Coral Creek as part of the consent agenda during Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. In other business, the City Council took ...

Veterans Day Ceremony in Fort Watlon Beach

Community Bike Ride Saturday in downtown Fort Walton Beach

We’d like to thank all those who turned out Saturday morning to make our first Community Bike Ride a success. It was a little damp, but we had fun. We’d also like to thank the Downtown Fort Walton Beach organization and the Fort Walton...

Ferry Park restrooms now open

The new restrooms at the Ferry Park are now open. Use the code written below the keypad (code is the same to open all doors). Once inside, be sure to push lock button at top of handle to deactivate keypad while restroom is in use. If you have any question...

WEATHER UPDATE: Veterans Day Ceremony moved indoors because of rain forcecast

UPDATE to Veterans Day Ceremony Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023.Because of forecasted rain, the Veterans Day Ceremony scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023 has been moved indoors to the American Legion Post 235, located at 105 Hollywood Boulevard NW, Fort...

Agendas posted for upcoming City Council meetings

Community Bike Ride set for Saturday morning in downtown Fort Walton Beach

Come join us this Saturday morning for the first COMMUNITY BIKE RIDE, hosted by the Fort Walton Beach Police Department and the Downtown Fort Walton Beach, Florida organization!  Ride with our community policing officers as they bicycle through t...

Veterans Day office closures

City of Fort Walton Beach office closures for the Veterans Day holiday on Friday, Nov. 10.

All City Hall offices including Growth Management, Finance and Customer Service, and Human Resources will be open from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 9, and clo...

Fort Walton Beach Christmas tree lighting

Join us on Friday, Nov. 24 as we "Light Up the Night" with the official lighting of the Christmas tree at the Fort Walton Beach Landing. Festivities begin at 5 p.m. at the Landing with live Christmas music from members of the Fort Walton Beach C...

Fort Walton Beach Christmas Parade

The Fort Walton Beach 2023 Christmas Parade is set for Monday, Dec. 4 at 6:30 p.m. If your business or organization would like to have a float in this year’s parade, you can find the application form here. Application deadline is at Noon on Wedn...

Upcoming Fort Walton Beach City Council meetings

The Fort Walton Beach City Council has the following meetings scheduled for November and December. Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are held in the City Council Chamber at 107 Miracle Strip Pkwy SW and are open to the public. Agendas are posted before...

Always bring a leash for your pet when visiting city parks

As a courtesy to others, always remember to keep your pet on a leash while visiting Fort Walton Beach Parks.

National Pedestrian Safety Month: Pedestrian Safety is for Everyone - Video #3

The Okaloosa Community Health Improvement Partnership (OCHIP)safety team takes a look at school zone safety in the last of a video series for National Pedestrian Safety Month.

Okaloosa County Commission enact 7-day burn ban

In coordination with the Florida Forest Service, the Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners enacted a 7-day burn ban Tuesday, prohibiting the outdoor burning of any combustible material, including: bonfires, campfires, warming fires, outdoor firepl...

Ferry Park restrooms update

City of Fort Walton Beach employees poured concrete sidewalks around the new restroom building at Ferry Park last week. The prefabricated concrete building has four individual restrooms with electronic locks and two water fountains attached to the structu...

Police Department promotes three officers

Flow Tribe closes out Concerts at the Landing series

News Orleans-based Flow Tribe entertain the crowd Friday night during the final show of the Concerts at the Landing series. About a dozen different bands performed this spring and fall as part of the series at the Fort Walton Beach Landing.

City Council summary for Oct. 24

The Fort Walton Beach City Council took the following actions during the regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 24: 

8. RESOLUTIONS

Item 8.1:  2023-20 Resolution to Amend the FY 2022-23 Budget 

Recommends City Council adoptio...

Yard of the Month for October

Congratulations to our City of Fort Walton Beach Yard of the Month winners for October, Kenwood neighborhood residents Stephanie and Tyler Farris. The couple have transformed their front yard into an elaborate outdoor haunted house for trick-or-treaters t...

City recognizes Managers, Employees of the Year

The City of Fort Walton Beach recently recognized its employees and managers of the year as part of Florida Government Week. Those city employees honored were:

CITY CLERK: Amber Ford was recognized by City Clerk Kim Barnes as the clerk’s office employee of...

City Council Meeting Tonight at 6 p.m.

2023 Fall Carnival was a big success

Thanks to the hundreds of costumed characters who came out Friday night to make our 2023 Fall Festival a success! Here’s a look at the festivities at the Fort Walton Beach Recreation Center, which included a trick-or-treat trail, bouncy houses a...

Beware this text message scam

FRAUD ALERT: This text was recently received by a City of Fort Walton Beach water customer. We want you to know that the City of Fort Walton Beach will NEVER send you text messages regarding your account.  Please don’t respond to such a message i...

City Council meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24

The next Fort Walton Beach City Council meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24, in the City Council Chamber at 107 Miracle Strip Parkway SW. The meeting agenda and agenda packet can be found at the link below.

Upcoming meetings

Fort Walton Beach City Council meeting summary for Sept. 12

The Fort Walton Beach City Council met on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, for three separate meetings. Below are the meetings and official actions taken by the council during each meeting.

REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING:

8. RESOLUTIONS

8.1. 2023-15 Resoluti...

FDOT Okaloosa and Walton Traffic Advisory

Read on...

Registration for 12U & 14U flag football ends this week

Registration for the City’s 12U and 14U flag football league closes this week on Oct. 19, with practice beginning in early November. The cost is $25 for city residents and $45 for nonresidents.

For more information about the program or to sign up...

City departments and facilities will have limited hours Wednesday,, Oct. 18

Autumn Poultry entertains the crowd with Concerts at The Landing performance last week

City Council meeting summary for Oct. 10, 2023

Youth flag football and basketball registration open now

National Pedestrian Safety Month video series: All about roundabouts - Video #2

The Okaloosa Community Health Improvement Partnership (OCHIP) safety team takes a look at rules of roundabouts in the second video of a series for National Pedestrian Safety Month.

Join us for Concerts at The Landing!

National Pedestrian Safety Month video series: Crosswalk Safety - Video #1

The Okaloosa County Health Department has teamed up with community partners in a campaign to help bring awareness to pedestrian safety.

The campaign includes an elementary school Walk, Bike and Roll-To-School event to be held Oct. 4, a school poster conte...

Walk to School at Elliott Point

The City of Fort Walton Beach was happy to be a part of Elliott Point Elementary School's Walk to School Day this morning. Students, their parents, and school faculty were joined by Fort Walton Mayor Dick Rynearson, Council members Gloria DeBerry...

New restrooms installed at Ferry Park

City Council appoints John Mead to empty council seat

During the City Council’s Regular Meeting held Tuesday, the Fort Walton Beach City Council voted 6-0 to appoint John Mead to fill the vacant seat left when former City Councilman Larry Patrick resigned in August. In a Special Meeting on the Comprehensive ...

MGO portal allows for online permitting, business transactions with city

City's Fire Department helps host Volunteer Firefighter Training Weekend

The City of Fort Walton Beach’s fire department and Okaloosa Technical College recently hosted the Northwest Florida Volunteer Firefighter Weekend. Now in its 18th year, the annual event has expanded to five days of training (Wednesday through S...