Thanks to volunteers for success of Cortez Fishing Festival

The 34th Annual Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival last weekend was a fantastic celebration. Once again thousands turned out for a beautiful day along one of Florida's last working/fishing waterfronts.

There are a number of factors that come together to make this such a wonderful community event. However, the festival would not be possible without the dedicated and hard work of the festival volunteers.

We estimate that 20,000 people attend. It takes a lot of work to make sure everyone has a safe and enjoyable experience. I can tell you there are a lot of sore, tired volunteers on the Monday following the festival.

On the behalf of the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage (FISH), I want to thank and applaud these very special people,

John Stevely, member, festival organizing committee

Bradenton

This story was originally published February 21, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Thanks to volunteers for success of Cortez Fishing Festival ."