Boats, Blues and Record Breakers at the Cotee River Festival

The annual Cotee River Seafood Festival and Boat Show begins Friday, May 13, at in New Port Richey.

Now in its twelfth year, the three-day festival, organized by , is a celebration of music, arts and crafts and life on the water.

The celebration starts Friday night with music by Act III and DJ Love, who will be playing Motown and 70s favourites.

The Blues By The River Concert runs for two days starting on Saturday, May 14, at 12 p.m. Various artists, both local and national, will play the event, with six performances on Saturday and three on Sunday afternoon. 

Headlining the event on Saturday night is renowned blues player Debbie Davies, who will perform from 9-10:30 p.m. This veteran musician has been nominated for several Blues Music Awards and was the 2010 winner in the Best Traditional Female Artist category. In an impressive career, Davies has collaborated with artists such as Ike Turner, Peter Green and Mick Taylor.

The Brighthouse Networks Boat Show starts Saturday around Orange Lake, where visitors will be able to view boats and boating equipment from a variety of vendors. With so many boats on display, it’s not surprising that many of the food vendors will be offering a variety of seafood throughout the course of the weekend.

The festival organizers found themselves dealing with a reduction in funding this year but made allowances. According to Deborah Pentivolpi, the new executive director for , the challenge this year was ensuring that the festival matched the high standards of previous years.

“The loss in funding did make it harder but we’re still doing well,” said Pentivolpi. “We hope to add new events next year, but the important thing this year was to keep it consistent."

Despite the difficulties faced by the organizers, this year’s festival will actually be bigger than last year with a definite increase in the number of boat vendors., Pentivolpi said. Pentivolpi wants to see this trend continue in future years and get even more focus on the boat show.

“We’re aiming to make the boat show even bigger,” she said.

In keeping with the nautical theme, one of the special guests at the 2011 festival will be world record holder Ralph Brown. A Spring Hill resident, Brown with his brother Robert, set several world records when they made the journey from Tampa to London in a 21-foot fishing boat on the I Am Second Wounded Hero Voyage  in 2009. Their world records include smallest powerboat to cross the Atlantic and longest non-stop ocean voyage in a flats boat.

A family-friendly event, the festival has plenty of activities for the kids with a special fun zone which includes a petting zoo, bouncy castles, a climbing wall and various games.

“We’ve got a nice variety this year, something fun for everyone,” said Pentivolpi.

The whole festival is free and begins on May 13 with the Friday Night Concert in the Park. For full listings of events and details of the festival visit: http://www.nprmainstreet.com/gnprms/2011_cotee_river_fest.html