Shop, eat, imbibe at Mermaid Festival and Marketplace

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Photo by Sharon Rice

Ahoy mermaids, mermen, pirates and wenches! The entire community is invited to the Mermaid Festival tomorrow, August 22, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Indian Beach, featuring a Mermaid Marketplace with 20 vendors and a Mermaid Lounge selling beer, wine, soft drinks, water and the signature Mermaid Martini. The Woman’s Club will be selling hotdogs and pizza.

Entertainment at the Mermaid Festival will be provided by singer Aprile McKinnon, members of the TCHS Jazz Band and other local musicians. Watch for the “Pirates of the Lake” (aka Yacht Club) to battle it out off shore. And look for the crowning of the Mermaid Queen!

Activities will include a Mermaid Grotto for photos, along with competitions, games and crafts for the children. Tickets will be sold in the kids’ craft area for children to make mermaid clothespins, mermaid necklaces, mermaid wands, pirate eye patches, pirate hats and pirate swords. Also scheduled are a pirate (temporary) tattoo parlor, opportunity drawing and costume competitions.

Above, Leota Janzen promises to give everyone who attends tomorrow’s Mermaid Festival “a chance to win treasure!” At left, Lyne Hall and the Woman’s Club have been working several months now on plans for the Mermaid Festival. They even had a special float in this year’s Fiesta Day Parade. Photo provided by Leota Janzen.

Everyone is invited to come in mermaid- or pirate-inspired garb. For those planning to dress up, there will be a costume competition for ages 16 years and younger and for 17 years and older: Best Mermaid and Best Pirate. There also will be a contest for best themed booth.

Some of the items offered for sale and included in the opportunity drawing are mermaid garden stakes, hand-made mermaid tails, nautical signage and other mermaid/nautical themed items of jewelry, glassware, home decor, etc.

Note: credit cards will not be accepted in the Mermaid Lounge.