Forget the Fourth. Let Labor Day plans go. Now is the time to focus on a one-of-a-kind costume ball that will highlight this fall’s Calusa Blueway Paddling Festival. We’re talking conquistadors and queens, dukes and duchesses, Calusa Indians and pirates. Even sea wenches are welcome.

The Calusa Costume Ball will kick off the second weekend of the festival, which runs Oct. 23-Nov. 1 along the waterways of the Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel in Southwest Florida. The Friday, Oct. 30, event is for those who want to get festive and dress in period costumes from the 1500s through the 1700s.

The ball will be held in Pineland, the site of the historic Calusa Indian mounds and the Randell Research Center. Festivities are at the Tarpon Lodge, a historic inn just across the street from Randell that is situated along the Calusa Blueway Paddling Trail, a 190-mile marked canoe and kayak trail through fabled backbays along lush shores.

A ticket to the ball includes a drink and appetizers at the Tarpon Lodge, story telling and re-enactments courtesy of Calusa Ghost Tours, plus music provided by the minstrels of John Paeno, owner of Calusa Ghost Tours. There will be door prizes, and during the evening two people will be selected as king and queen of the ball. The ticket also includes admission to a moonlight guided walk up onto a Calusa mound at Randell, where more story telling will take place.

A limited number of tickets will be available for this event, which runs 7:30 to 11 p.m. Check back to www.CalusaBluewayPaddlingFestival.com in the coming weeks to find out how to purchase yours for $35 each.

Following the ball, events on Halloween will include a paddling festival celebration from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Randell Research Center with food, Calusa education, eco-activities, speakers, how-to kayaking tips and more. Winners of the Calusa Blueway Paddling Festival Photo Contest will be revealed with a slide show of all entrants. The festival’s catch-and-release kayak fishing tournament, which starts at safe light on Halloween, will also conclude at Randell with winners, cash prizes and other awards being announced in late afternoon. Guided kayak trips around Pineland and Pine Island will happen throughout the day.

The festival’s final day – Nov. 1 – features Matlacha, another quaint Pine Island community. The Paddle of the Pass canoe and kayak regatta starts early with awards, food and music planned at lunchtime for racers and festival-goers to enjoy. Call it Bluegrass for the Blueway.

It’s a great ending to the nation’s premier canoeing and kayaking festival, which is part of Islands FallFest. Complete details of the 10-day festival are online at www.CalusaBluewayPaddlingFestival.com. Activities are geared toward paddling enthusiasts, eco-lovers, newbies to kayaking, families, residents and tourists.

Events are at public parks and archeological sites as well as resorts and campgrounds along the Calusa Blueway Paddling Trail, which has been recognized by Paddler Magazine and Canoe & Kayak magazine as a premier paddling destination. The trail also has National Recreation Trail designation and is part of the Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail.

Festival details are available at www.CalusaBluewayPaddlingFestival.com, including entry forms for canoe and kayak races, a catch-and-release fishing tournament and photo contest. Listings of other activities, hotel packages and national ride-share options also are included on the site.

Islands FallFest details are available at www.FortMyers-Sanibel.com. It’s a celebration of one-of-a-kind events and vacation values running September – November 2009.

So for now, just remember the basics and mark your calendar:

Calendar listing: Calusa Costume Ball: 7:30 to 11 p.m. Oct. 30, 2009, at Tarpon Lodge, 13771 Waterfront Drive, Pineland, FL 33945. $35 includes drink ticket, appetizers, story telling and entertainment, plus a guided moonlight hike on a historic Calusa Indian mound. (239) 433-3855. Details online at www.CalusaBluewayPaddlingFestival.com.