Sour Orange Festival is Jan. 15

Posted 1/10/22

The Lakeport Community Association will hold the annual Sour Orange Festival on Jan. 15, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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Sour Orange Festival is Jan. 15

Posted

The Lakeport Community Association will hold the annual Sour Orange Festival on Jan. 15, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Lakeport Community Center, 1239 Red Barn Road.

Sour oranges (a feral citris hybrid) can occasionally be found growing in hammocks according to the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Services. The tree is native to southeast Asia but escaped cultivation in Florida.
Sour oranges (a feral citris hybrid) can occasionally be found growing in hammocks according to the University of Florida Institute of Food and …

The festival will include a dog show, rib cook-off, a pie eating contest, restored tractor show, Sour Orange bakeoff, CPR training and a fire extinguisher class.

Entertainment will be by the Hired Guns Band.

Barbecue dinners will include pulled pork, French fries, beverage and sour orange pie.

Gate entry is $2 per person. Children age 12 and under will be admitted free.

About sour oranges:

According to “Fruits of Warm Climates” by Julia F. Morton, sour orange trees are also known as bitter, bigarade, or Seville orange. In Spanish-speaking areas sour orange may be called naranja ácida, naranja agria, or naranja amarga. The tree ranges in height from about 10 feet to 30 feet tall. The sour orange is native to southeastern Asia. Spaniards are believed to have introduced the sour orange into St. Augustine, and the trees were quickly adopted by the early settlers and local Indians. Hardy sour orange was used as a rootstock for sweet orange trees.

About Lakeport:
Located in northern Glades County along the northwestern shore of Lake Okeechobee, Lakeport was founded in 1913 and originally known as the Lakeport Colony. A dock was constructed on Lake Okeechobee at Lakeport and freight and mail was received while produce, fish, fur, and skins were shipped out. When the railroad reached the City of Okeechobee in the early 1900s, thereby allowing shipping of items to northern states, Lakeport came to be named the “Fish Capital” of Florida.

The fish in the lake in the early days consisted of catfish, gar, shad, blue gills and crappie or speckled perch (speck), as they are known here, and bass. Due to large scale seine netting in the early years of pioneer settlement around the lake, bass is the predominant species left. Because of this, Lake Okeechobee is known as the “Bass Capital” of the world and is celebrated by fishermen. Duck hunters also flock to the lake to take advantage of the fine hunting available on the water.

In Lakeport, the lake is accessible from Harney Pond park, which boasts boat ramps, picnic tables, restrooms and a boardwalk that offers a breathtaking view of Lake Okeechobee.

Sour Orange Festival, Lakep;ort Community Center

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