DeSoto Bottle Boat Regatta set for Saturday in Bradenton

The DeSoto Seafood Festival gets most of the attention, but it's just one part of the DeSoto Heritage Festival.

The heritage festival continues this weekend with the annual Bottle Boat Regatta, which is set for Saturday on the south side of the Palma Sola Causeway.

The idea is that teams made up of family members, friends, schoolmates, neighbors, co-workers or club members build exotic looking boats that float on hundreds of plastic bottles. (The regatta people suggest 20 one-gallon bottles for each team member, so that's 240 bottles for one 12-person team.)

They paddle the boats from the launch point to the finish lines, and they get prizes for winning the race, for having the best-dressed crew and more.

There are various classifications, for children and adults, and the boats in each classification race separately, so spectators can view a continuous parade of plastic-bottom boats paddling past. They compete for trophies, but the winner of the highest class, which is open only to adults, will run the length of the course, turn around and race back the other way. The winner of that class will be invited to participate in the DeSoto Heritage Festival Grand Parade on April 30.

Details: 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. April 16, Palma Sola Causeway, 8500 Manatee Ave., Bradenton. Admission: Free. Information: 941-747-1998, desotohq.com.

-- Marty Clear

This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 6:03 PM with the headline "DeSoto Bottle Boat Regatta set for Saturday in Bradenton ."