Drunken eelpout party looks for new home

Walker, Minn., may be about to lose the Eelpout Festival.

Organizers have filed an application with Beltrami County to move it to Bemidji.

The celebration of the eelpout usually involves a fair amount of drinking and trashing the ice on Walker Bay on Leech Lake.

But in recent years, there’ve been plenty of indications local authorities have tired of the mess. And this year the Cass County Sheriff’s Office restricted vehicle access on the ice, which angered the festival attendees who insisted the ice was plenty safe.

The event usually generates about 900 pounds of trash, the Park Rapids Enterprise says.

There are more than a few people in Bemidji that don’t want the headaches, so yesterday organizers released a statement saying no decision has been made.