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Sacred cow
By JORGE SANCHEZ, Times Staff Writer CRYSTAL RIVER -- The Florida Manatee Festival, combined with an afternoon trip into Margaritaville, rolls through downtown for a two-day celebration beginning Saturday. The Manatee Festival features fine art, crafts, boat tours of Kings Bay and the popular "Sounds Like Buffett to Me" sing-alike contest. Sponsored by the Parrotheads of Citrus County, the "Sounds Like Buffett to Me" features area singers, both professional and amateurs, competing for a Key West vacation. The winner is the one who gets the loudest crowd response after performing a couple of Jimmy Buffett tunes. The contest takes place from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the gazebo bandstand near the Creative Playground near City Hall. Another interesting attraction of the the manatee festival is the boat tours of Kings Bay. Pontoon boats, operated by local dive companies, will take people on a tour of the bay lasting about 45 minutes. The boats depart from Crystal River Manatee Dive and Tour at the end of NW Third Street. It is about a half-mile walk down Citrus Avenue to NW Third Street. The guides' knowledge of the waters usually results in manatee sightings. The recent cold weather has attracted a large gathering of manatees to their refuge in the bay. Tickets for the boat rides will be sold at the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce information booth at the festival at N Citrus Avenue and NW Seventh Street. Tickets cost $3 for adults and $1 for children age 12 to 17. Children under 12 ride free. A manatee education film will be shown at the dive shop. The street near Heritage Village will have several manatee and wildlife education exhibits, by groups from the Friends of Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, Save the Manatee Club and Nature World Wildlife Rescue Group, the U.S. Fish and Wildilife Service and the Save Our Homosassa River Alliance. Ongoing childrens' activities will be held at the gazebo. A poster exhibit and videos will be shown at City Hall. At a glanceThe Florida Manatee Festival will be Saturday and Sunday in downtown Crystal River. The festival features fine arts, crafts, a children's games area, manatee and wildlife education exhibits, boat tours and food. Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $2. Free parking and shuttle buses at the Crystal River Mall on U.S. 19 N.
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