Englewood Beach Waterfest kicks off this weekend

The Englewood Beach Waterfest is underway and thousands of people are expected to show up to watch the boat races this weekend.

Many are hoping the boost in attendees could help bring the economy back after the devastation from the water quality crisis.

Keith Lewis grew up in Florida dreaming of the speedboat races this weekend.

“I love speed, so powerboat racing, you can get anywhere from 90 miles an hour classes right up to 180 plus,” he said.

He is in Englewood and racing with the Miss Geico team to defend their Offshore Powerboat Association World Title.

“This is the final event of the race year, this is the world championship. We won last year and we wanna repeat again as the world champions,” he said.

There are more than 50 boats from all over the United States participating and Lewis says competition is going to be tough.

The powerboat competition is just one of many attractions this weekend at Waterfest. The fourth annual event will also showcase Englewood’s restaurants for foodies out there and businesses as well. Everyone is hoping it will provide a much-needed boost after a long summer of red tide.

“The red tide has affected the communities we’ve raced in we’ve raced in Sarasota we raced in Clearwater but it hadn’t affected any of the races so we tell everyone come out to the beaches there’s no dead fish there’s no smell, come on out and enjoy the festivities.”

And help a community that’s had a rough year for tourism.

Powerboat races begin at 11:00 a.m. Saturday and the rest of the Waterfest festivities kick off Friday night at 5:00 p.m. in downtown Englewood.