44th Annual Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival

CORTEZ — Every February for the past four decades, people have gathered in one of Florida’s last true fishing villages to celebrate the cultural history of the region and to honor the men and women who supply us with fresh local seafood.

The village of Cortez and the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage (F.I.S.H.) will welcome the public back to the shores of Sarasota Bay for the 43rd Annual Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival on February 14  and 15.

After almost 150 years of weathering every challenge that the tide brings, one thing is clear: Cortez continues to provide fresh quality seafood, from their boats to your markets. 

Soak in the sunshine along Sarasota Bay while you boogie to live local music, browse aisles of original local artwork and nautical crafts, sip cold beverages, and sample some really tasty seafood. Get up close and personal with local marine life and feed your science side during “Dock Talks,” educational spiels put on by the University of Florida Fisheries Department & Florida Sea Grant.

Check out the Florida Maritime Museum and the Cortez Cultural Center, which are steeped in the history of the region. Stop by the Organized Fishermen of Florida booth to visit with some of our local watermen and learn more about commercial fishing. Buy a raffle ticket to be entered to win one of the beautiful, refurbished custom boats lovingly restored by the F.I.S.H Boatworks.

Working waterfronts are critical to Florida’s seafood economy and convey a sense of tradition and purpose hard to match. Development, population growth, and shifting priorities have contributed to the decline and disappearance of many fishing villages, but Cortez has survived the changing tides and remains a true vestige of old Florida.

The Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival is organized to raise awareness of the importance of local seafood production among the public. Cortez was settled in the 1800s by families lured by the bountiful marine resources in our region, and many of those original families’ namesakes still live in the village today.

This small but mighty fishing village was built on mullet and has diversified over the years to remain a top producer of Florida seafood. Grouper, snapper, stone crab, and baitfish are all landed in Cortez, in addition to the ever-present and forever mighty mullet. If you are eating wild-caught Florida seafood, there is a very strong chance that it crossed the docks of Cortez.

The 2026 Commercial Fishing Festival theme is “Boat to Market,” which is true nowhere else like it is in Cortez. The uniqueness and grit of the community envelop you as soon as you set foot into the village, where commercial fishing has built the lives of many families and remains a way of life today.

The Festival is a party with a purpose.

Every penny that the Festival earns is put right back into the community and supports the restoration and conservation of the FISH Preserve, 100 acres of coastal habitat that borders the east end of Cortez Village and is the last stretch of undeveloped waterfront property left on Sarasota Bay.

Get a taste of the REAL Florida.

Grab your sunglasses and your appetite and come on out to celebrate during the 44^th Annual Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival.

2026 Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival Details:

When: February 14 & 15, 10 am-6 pm
Where: In front of Starfish Co. and A.P. Bell (and between 123rd and 124th St W), Cortez, FL 34215.
Admission $5.00, kids under 12 free.
More Info, follow the Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival, put on by FISH on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Florida-Institute-for-Saltwater-Heritage-228622397188701