CORTEZ – The 44th annual Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival will be held Saturday, Feb. 14, and Sunday, Feb. 15.
The annual festival is a celebration of the cultural history of Cortez – one of the last true working fishing villages in Florida.
“The village of Cortez and the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage (FISH) welcome the public back to the shores of Sarasota Bay for the Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival,” said the press release issued by FISH media contact Angela Collins.
Known as a “party with a purpose,” the proceeds from the festival will go back to the community and help support the restoration and conservation of the FISH Preserve. The preserve is located on 98 acres of coastal habitat on the east end of Cortez village and is the last large stretch of undeveloped land on Sarasota Bay.
This year’s theme, “Boat to Market,” recognizes the Cortez fishermen who bring fresh seafood from their boats to local markets.
“FISH invites you to come out to celebrate a real working waterfront community dedicated to preserving their fishing way of life. Soak in the sunshine along Sarasota Bay while you boogie to live local music, browse aisles of original local artwork and nautical crafts, sip cold beverages and sample some tasty seafood,” Collins wrote.
The festival will feature the “Dock Talks” educational talks given by members of the University of Florida’s Florida Sea Grant program.
“Working waterfronts are critical to Florida’s seafood economy and convey a sense of tradition and purpose that is hard to compare. Development, population growth and shifting priorities have contributed to the decline and disappearance of many fishing villages, but Cortez has survived the changing tides and remains a true vestige of old Florida,” Collins wrote.
“The Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival was organized to share the importance of local seafood production with the public. Cortez was settled in the 1800s by families lured by the bountiful marine resources in our region and many of those original families’ namesake still live in the village today,” Collins wrote. “If you are eating wild-caught Florida seafood, there is a very strong chance that it crossed the docks of Cortez.”
The festival will be held both days from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in front of Starfish Company and the A.P. Bell Fish Company, between 123rd Street W. and 124th Street W. in Cortez. Admission is $5 and free for kids under 12.
