Festival focuses on learning about manatees

For the first year, manatees are in the spotlight. Exhibits will feature information about the water-dwelling mammals.

By JORGE SANCHEZ

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 12, 2001

This year's Florida Manatee Festival will emphasize education about the gentle giants that spend the winters in the local waterways.

A map of the festival grounds

Crystal River and the manatee have a shared history, and the festival set for Saturday and Sundaywill highlight the endangered species, hundreds of which spend the winters at Kings Bay.

It is easy to observe a manatee in the bay, and divers come from all over the world for a chance to swim with the manatees in Kings Bay, a portion of which is a manatee sanctuary, as well as the Crystal River and other area waterways.

LEARN ABOUT THE MANATEE, THEN TAKE A BOAT TOUR TO SEE ONE: Free boat trips to see manatees on Kings Bay will be offered from noon to 3 p.m. both days of the festival.

Tickets for the boat rides will be given out at the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce information booth at N Citrus Avenue and NW Seventh Street.

The boats will depart from Crystal River Manatee Dive and Tour, 237 NW Third St. Shuttle buses will take people from the nearby First Baptist Church parking lot to the dive shop.

Susan Dougherty, public information officer at Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park, is coordinating the manatee education program.

An area at Heritage Village on N Citrus Avenue contains several manatee educational exhibits.

Displays from the Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Manatee Rescue Group, school groups and the Parrotheads of Citrus County are scheduled to provide manatee information.

Continuous manatee education videos will be shown at City Hall on U.S. 19 during the festival.

"This is the first year that the festival will have a strong manatee emphasis," Dougherty said. "We have a good group of exhibitors."

ARTS AND CRAFTS WILL LINE THE STREETS: The Manatee Festival also includes about 50 fine artists and many more crafters. The fine arts display will be on N Citrus Avenue east of U.S. 19. The crafts will be along NW Seventh Street. The Crystal River Rotary Club is organizing the arts and crafts show, and a $1 donation will be requested to view the artists and crafters.

CHILDRENS' ACTIVITIES, ENTERTAINMENT AND OFF-SITE PARKING: A children's game area will be set up at the Creative Playground at City Hall. Organizers Steve and Fancy Taylor will have sack races, a fishing booth, a sandbox and other activities to keep children occupied during the festival.

A schedule of activities will be posted at the playground during the Manatee Festival.

"We're just going to go with the flow," Fancy Taylor said.

The Manatee Festival also will include food vendors and live musical entertainment. Among the entertainment is the "Sounds Like Buffett To Me" contest, which begins at 1 p.m. Jan. 13 at the gazebo near Creative Playground. The winner will be the one who sounds most like Florida folk rocker Jimmy Buffett. First prize is a four-day Key West vacation.

Other entertainers include Two Thorns and a Rose, Jesse Watson, Jimmy Brown and Brandy Halkett. Johnny Baier, bandleader from Razz Ma Tazz, the show band at Rock Crusher Canyon, also will wander around the festival Saturday morning, playing songs on his banjo. Razz Ma Tazz performs Saturday night at the Rock Crusher Canyon Pavilion.

Since parking in downtown Crystal River is limited, off-site parking will be at the Crystal River Mall, about a mile north on U.S. 19. There is a free bus shuttle to take visitors from the mall to the festival and back again.

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