Fish fest reels in huge crowds

People crowd the streets near the waterfront in Cortez for the 41st annual Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival. Byron Woods, who splits his time between Bradenton and Lynchburg, Virginia, took the photo at the festival, staged at a past location near the U.S. Coast Guard Station, far left center, A.P. Bell Fish Co., below the Coast Guard, and centered on the docks at Star Fish Co. Market and Restaurant, celebrating its 100th anniversary.

Coastal wildlife artist Jessica Shiply makes a sale to Fort Myers resident Doug Tollefson Feb. 18 at the Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival.

Made in the shade Holmes Beach residents Nancy, left, and Mike Deal, right, relax in the shade with friends Al and Kathryn Schmidt, also of Holmes Beach, at the 41st annual Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival.

Finley MacDonald, 7, of Bradenton, gets her face painted Feb. 18 by artist Monica Esqueda at the Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival.

Max Merkel, 3, of Annapolis, Maryland, hangs on for a ride Feb. 18 on a bucking shark in the kid’s area of the Cortez festival. Islander Photo: Robert Anderson

The Shrimp Shack seafood booth Feb. 18 serves seafood at the 41st annual Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival. The festival celebrated the villages fishing heritage with music, nautical arts and crafts, children’s activities, environmental exhibits and local seafood.