Sure spring is in the air, but it’s not too soon to mark your late-fall calendar to celebrate Southwest Florida's 190-mile marked paddling trail with the Calusa Blueway Paddling Festival.

If you’ve been here, you know the Calusa Blueway meanders along lacy mangrove shores, prime fishing grounds, tidal creeks and sugar-sand beaches. But the festival gives you a reason to come back. Plus newcomers can find lots to discover. Plans are taking shape now for the premier fall kayak and canoe festival, the Calusa Blueway Paddling Festival.

In its fourth year, the festival highlights paddlesports activities and eco-tourism options that exist in Lee County year-round. Waterfront communities from Sanibel to Pine Island and Fort Myers to Fort Myers Beach plus Bonita Springs and Estero are involved. Up the river, Cape Coral, North Fort Myers and Alva also have happenings. This year’s hubs will be at Mound House, Fort Myers Beach, and Randell Research Center, Pineland.

Residents and tourists alike can enjoy two weekends of activities with eco-offerings in between, including canoe/kayak regattas, a kayak fishing tournament, guided paddling trips, club picnics and outings, and archeological activities and cultural sites.

There also are learning opportunities, hospitality events, guided walks and bird-watching trips, family fun days, and waterway cleanups. A photo contest for those who shoot images from their paddlecraft will be announced shortly.

The 2008 festival saw a 70 percent increase in attendance over 2007. The 2009 festival promises to garner even more attention, having already been featured in Canoe & Kayak magazine online with a mention in Paddler magazine earlier this year.

The blueway exposes you to paradise without a passport. The festival is a way to showcase the trail and the thriving community here of outfitters, campgrounds, hotels and other entities such as non-profit organizations and parks and preserves.

The Great Calusa Blueway has been designated by the U.S. Department of Interior as a National Recreation Trail – recognizing it as part of America’s national system of trails. It also has received state trail designation from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Lee County Parks & Recreation will promote the festival – and the trail – throughout Florida and the United States, urging paddlers and eco-tourists to come to our county and sample our natural offerings. It’s not too soon for locals to start getting excited:

Pick up a paddle for the first time, if you’re a newcomer to kayaking or canoeing. Schedule a guided trip. Find outfitter listings here on this site. Click on the “planning” button.

Dust off that canoe or kayak in your garage, if you’re not a newbie. Pick up a free map and enjoy the trail now. Find a local club by checking on Yahoo groups for the Fort Myers area.

Think about how the blueway and this eco-fest can work for you, if you’re a business owner or non-profit leader. Even if you’re not tied directly to the paddling community, there may be other ways you can be involved and support the festival.

Opportunities for sponsorships and partnerships exist. Plans are taking shape now. Call festival co-coordinators John Kiseda and Betsy Clayton at (239) 432-2163 or (239) 433-3855. Or e-mail kisedajb@leegov.com or bclayton@leegov.com.

Our Web site is being updated monthly. Check it out at www.CalusaBluewayPaddlingFestival.com