The Johnsonville Night Light show at the Naples Botanical Gardens was very underwhelming. There was…read morenothing "spectacular" about. I wish the music was more festive and upbeat too. it was my first time at the Botanical Gardens and I can't wait to go back and see the gardens during the day in sunlight! Looks like a beautiful place!

Night Lights in the Garden is an annual holiday event staged by the Naples Botanical Garden. The…read moreinaugural event was held in 2009 using tiki torches. It's come a long way since then. Night Lights in the Gardens runs from November 27 to December 23, December 26-30, and January 1-3, from 6 to 9 most evenings, 10 PM on select nights. They are limiting the number of guests due to Covid so you must buy your tickets ahead of time on their website. To further protect people their is a suggested event route set up, 2 entrances and exists to prevent people from gathering close, and masks are required. Adult admission is $25. If you are a garden member, tickets are $12. If I lived close by I would definitely purchase a membership. Don't wait to purchase your tickets, the night I attended was sold out. I had a little problem purchasing my ticket and I just want to thank Katy from the bottom of my heart. She went way beyond anything she had to do so I could attend the event. Katy is an absolute gem and if you are reading this, thank you so much and I am wishing you the happiest of holidays. This even is 5 stars all the way. Just pulling up to the garden, I was already dazzled by the lights they had set up. Every night there is live music on the water garden stage. On the night I visited it was a duo, Kelly and Mason signing beautiful slowed down arrangements of pop song classics. The garden had the coolest lighted stools set up for people to sit on while they listened to the music. Pairing perfectly with the music was the delicious cocktail the garden created. Called Holiday at the Beach ($10), it had Malibu coconut rum, peach schnapps, pineapple and cranberry juice served over ice with a cherry and umbrella garnish. It was so delicious and this is going to be my new holiday cocktail. I can't wait to recreate it with the rum I had leftover from Thanksgiving. The cocktail can be purchased along with beer, wine, water, and soft drinks at a table in the garden and at the Frogg Cafe which was also serving a full menu. The lights were so amazing. I don't think my pictures begin to do the event justice. In addition to all of the plants and trees that were bathed in multi colored electric light, there were also special exhibit sculptures, from Steve Tobin, Nature Underground. Also scattered throughout the garden were trees created out of plants by the gardeners. I can't even begin to express how magical and beautiful the gardens are. The lights are used to accentuate the natural beauty of the plants. You can even have some fun shopping at the fantastically curated gift shop. When you purchase items you can help support the garden and knock some gifts off your list at the same time. I had the best time at this event and I highly recommend it. It is definitely worth coming out for even if you live on the east coast of Florida as I do. It was the perfect kick off for the holiday season. Grab your family and celebrate the real meaning of the holidays by getting together and attending this event. Long after who gave what is forgotten, the memories of precious time spent together will be treasured.

Second time here. For some reason we didn't like it as much as last year. Food was good, but not…read moregreat. Didn't see any entertainment while we were there. I guess we were too early.

Great festival. Only thing is, when I see "seafood and music" I expect to see a lot of it. There…read morewere maybe 4-6 trucks of-seafood and the stage for music, but there was also a market set up too. I loved seeing all of the local stores and different products for sale, so no negativity with that, but just surprised it was there to begin with since it's a "seafood and music" festival!!!

Such a great community event! Truly loved seeing the local vendors, restaurants, musicians and…read morecommunity members come together for this inaugural event. I hope this continues into the future.

We went to this event on 11.21.10 and went again today (11.18.12). It is still just as good, and…read moreperhaps even better. We tried Pastrami on Rye ($3), Prime Rib Sliders ($2), Shrimp cocktail with lots of shrimp ($2), 4 yummy BBQ ribs ($3), and maybe some other stuff, then proceeded to waddle home. This year there were only locally owned "mom & pop" restaurants allowed to participate and that proved to be a big plus.This continues to be the best "taste" event in the area that we have been able to find. Burp.

Taste of Bonita is one of the biggest events in the area. It welcomes back the seasonal residents…read moreand introduces them to new restaurants and brings them back in touch with old favorites. The festival is usually the 3rd Sunday in November and is hosted by Bonita Springs Rotary Noon. The official website is www.TasteOfBonita.com

This is the largest sand sculpting competition in the United States. Paying a visit has become a…read moreThanksgiving weekend tradition for us. This year the event took place over ten days with a different competition each day. We like to come over on Sunday when everything has been built and the festival is closing up. Parking is limited at the actual event so you park in a field a few miles from the festival and they transport you by a bus limousine. Transportation is extremely quick and reliable. At the field you can also purchase the $7 entry wristband. In addition to an amazing array of sand sculptures on the beach there is also a kids activity area and food and merchandise vendors. During our visit we got to see a head to head speed sand sculpting competition. When the rest of the country is covered in snow there is nothing like heading to a sunny beach to view sand sculptures at an event that can only be held in Florida. Some of my favorite sculptures this year included the one by Seminole Hard Rock which was a ship wreck broken in half. On one side was a woman in distress as sharks circled and on the other side was a happy sailor who had secured the case of rum. Other sculptures included dragons, castles, the Wizard of Oz, and tributes to the animals lost in the red tide and the firefighters who fought the wild fire in California. Pictures can't do these works of art justice. They need to be seen in person to be fully appreciated. There is an area for professionals and one for amateurs. A visit to this festival is not complete without watching the sun set over the water and then heading over to dinner at Coconut Jack's. I love the west coast and this festival provides the perfect excuse to visit. It's become one of our favorite events to start the winter holiday season.

Fun to visit! Lots of professional and amateur sculptures. Food trucks and drink tents as well as…read moreother vendors. There is also an area where professional sculptures do demonstrations! Wear a hat, it can get hot! Add in the cost of parking and it can be an expensive day, but worth the trip at least once in a lifetime to see! We generally take an hour to see all sculptures depending g on how busy it is.

I was looking online for events that were happening while Nate and I were in town and the Naples…read moreDowntown Art Fair came up. We decided to check out the farmer's market and then head to the art fair when it opened at 10 am. We had so much fun! The art fair was massive, with tons of artists in the lovely Cambier Park. There were 200+ artists with all kinds of art ranging from painting, photography, sculpture, ceramics, jewelry, and more. It was so lovely just wandering around the nicely shaded park looking at all the art. Most artists were posted at their booths ready to answer questions or ring up sales. I noticed that a lot of the artists were from other states (with Minnesota being represented more than I would have expected). There was no charge to enter the fair but they did have a suggested donation of $10. There were a couple food trucks parked at the fair and we enjoyed some Rita's Italian Ice. I'm so glad we got to check out this Art Fair.

What an awesome way to celebrate at a local event and eat some great food. It was the 58th annual…read moreshrimp festival in Fort Myers Beach! The north end of the island gets really crowded with the celebrations. Saturday included a 5k run and the voting for the annual shrimp festival queen. We attended on Sunday, which was a bit more quiet and included a 1pm all you can eat shrimp contest. The main organization is done by the FMB Lyons club. There are abundant choices for food or shopping in the few block area of the festival. For us, the main event is eating the peel and eat Florida pink gulf shrimp! Yum! We try to attend every year, as it is a fun time and a great fundraiser for the community!

It was pretty great and I even enjoyed it considering I don't love seafood! I had some fried shrimp…read moreand some fries. There were tons of other varieties available and lots of other food options that I was certainly not brave enough to try. There were also plenty of vendors around selling food and trinkets they had available, and it was all along the beautiful beach. Definitely give it a try.

I have been going here since they opened and always enjoyed driving from Naples to get fresh…read moreproduce, delicious tomatoes and support a local business. I had not been in about 2 years due to life events but was excited to go this weekend and stock up. I was sad to see most of the farm appeared to be a playground, and completely blown away that the u pick price for heirloom tomatoes was $6.33 ! What?! Just the week before I had been in Tennessee and visited a small produce stand and bought fresh heirlooms that had been shipped in for $1.99 per lb. I would love to support local growers, but it was completely unaffordable. A small pickling cucumber was $1.54 Sadly, I will not be back

We paid $100 entrance fee for the Halloween pumpkin pick... and with 3 young kids. They had no…read morewater station available. I asked an employee how we could get some water and she just pointed to the fridge and said, "For Sale". We spent our cash on pumpkin and entrance fee. The LEAST they could do is have a water station... even for safety reasons.

Great venue with comfortable seating and a large variety of entertainment and education. Earlier…read moretoday wife and I did an impromptu trip to Arts Bonita and had a great time watching the Titanic musical. Very friendly staff. In addition to plays they offer live music and even classes for both kids and adults. Everything is very affordable. We will definitely be back.

Went there for the first time last night- there was a group of eight of us to see the Dreamboats…read more The venue is really nice- small, easy to find your seat. The band was really good- a most enjoyable night Air conditioner was full blast -so bring a sweater.