‘Swamped but never sunk.’ Festival to celebrate Cortez’s strength in face of hurricanes
The annual Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival is back this weekend to celebrate the Bradenton community’s survival through the decades.
But this year, it will also celebrate the village’s resilience through 2024’s brutal hurricane season.
With the theme “Swamped but never Sunk,” festival organizers invite everyone to come support Cortez while enjoying two days of seafood, music, science and fun.
Cortez recovering from intense hurricane season
Cortez was among several low-lying Manatee County communities hit hard by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The storms caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to the Bradenton area.
In Cortez, storm surge and winds damaged or destroyed homes and some beloved local businesses, many of which are still recovering.
“Recovery is going very slowly but surely,” said Jane von Hahmann, a board member of Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage (FISH), the nonprofit that hosts the festival. “So many people were touched. We were debating not having the festival this year after the storms, but the people came to us and said they thought it would be a great morale booster.”
“We need everyone to come out and join us and help us celebrate survival,” von Hahmann said.
Festival supports FISH Preserve
As always, proceeds from the festival will support the waterfront community’s homegrown conservation project, the FISH Preserve.
Cortezians banded together in 2000 to save a piece of undeveloped coastline on Sarasota Bay. Over two decades later, the project to preserve and restore the roughly 100-acre green space was completed in 2023.
Now, the festival funds upkeep and further improvements at the preserve.
The latest upgrades include a trail system and bridges, which are being added with help from a $165,000 grant from the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, von Hahmann said.
FISH will also look to replace native trees lost in the aftermath of the storms, von Hahmann said.
Things to do at the 2025 Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival
This year’s festival will include a variety of family-friendly activities, including:
- A market of local art and nautical crafts for sale
- Food vendors offering fresh seafood, including fish, stone crab, shrimp, clams and oysters, plus other kinds of food and desserts
- Drinks for purchase, including cold beer
- Live music all day. Saturday performances: Shanty Singers (10 to 11 a.m.), Sycamore Shade (11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.), Eric Von Band (2 to 4 p.m.) and Karen & Jimmy Band (4:30 to 6 p.m.). Sunday performances: The Music on the Porch Gang (10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.), Soul-R-Coaster (12:30 to 2 p.m.), Jason Haram (2:30 to 4 p.m.) and Eric Von (4:30 to 5:30 p.m.)
- A “Fisherman’s Fashion Show” from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday
“Dock Talks”: Florida Sea Grant program and University of Florida staff will present these bite-sized science lessons all day at Fulford Fish House
Touch tanks with marine life
A chance to chat with some of Florida’s professional anglers at the Organized Fishermen of Florida booth
A raffle for a chance to win a boat restored by the F.I.S.H Boatworks
Stop by Cortez Cultural Center and the Florida Maritime Museum for a deeper dive into Cortez history
Festival details
Dates and hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Admission: $5. Kids 11 and under: Free
Location: In front of Starfish Co. and A.P. Bell Fish Co. on 46th Avenue West, Cortez (between 123rd Street West and 124th Street West)
Parking: Available at FISH Preserve, 4404 116th St. W., Cortez, for a $5 donation. Offsite parking available at Cortez Road Baptist Church, 4411 100th St. W., Bradenton.
More info: FISHCortez.org
