Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival

The Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival was held Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 16 and 17.  The festival ran from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days.

It was the 26th time Cortezians have welcomed the world to their historic village at the mainland end of the Cortez Bridge, across Anna Maria Sound from Anna Maria Island.

“Net Working” was the theme, and a big collection of working fishing nets were in the historic Fulford Fish House. Fishing boats and other craft lined the docks, and smaller craft was displayed at the Cortez Community Center on 123rd Street.

Booths lined the streets along the waterfront area, 53 of them with artists showing and selling their creations and a couple of dozen others providing Cortez-type food for the visitors.

Sponsor and beneficiary of the festival was the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage, which over the years has put proceeds from the festival into purchase of the 95-acre FISH Preserve at the eastern end of the village.