Page 43 - 2024-2025 Travel Guide to Florida

the Sarasota–Bradenton area, which boasts two artists’ colonies—Towles Court near downtown Sarasota and Village of the Arts in Bradenton. The colonies and downtown Sarasota schedule monthly gallery walks where you can meet the artists.
ATTRACTIONS
Most of the attractions in Southwest Florida are outdoor venues or learning centers, which educate and inform visitors about the region’s bountiful nature and wildlife.
Take Naples, for instance, where the most visited attractions include the Naples Botanical Garden and Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. The botanical garden showcases subtropical vegetation in settings that reflect the culture of Brazil, the Caribbean, Asia and Florida. The protected Corkscrew Swamp, which is named after the twisty river that once flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, was established in 1954. Today, the designated Audoban wildlife refuge is home to some of the world's largest old-growth bald cypress forest and is a popular migration station.
The Collier County system of museums occupies five unique venues in Marco Island, Naples, Everglades City and Immokalee—all of them family-oriented. The town’s most family-friendly museum, Golisano Children’s Museum of Naples, sits next to every kid’s favorite, the Sun-N-Fun Lagoon water park in North Naples.
Naples is known, too, for its superlative golfing opportunities. Besides playing lush,
natural golf courses, adults and kids alike can get their game on at various golf schools and programs in the area.
In Fort Myers, the Edison and Ford Winter Estates, one of Southwest Florida’s finest treasures, offers guided and self-guided tours. Nearby, the IMAG History & Science Center combines science and history with programs that include virtual reality, touch- tank, animal encounters and stingray feedings. It’s a one-stop museum that appeals to adults and children alike.
The Mound House cultural museum, a restoration of a 1906 home, is the oldest standing structure on Fort Myers Beach. See the rich history of the Calusa Indians who built a shell mound on the property some 2,000 years ago. Check ahead for opening times.
At Lee County Manatee Park in North Fort Myers, watch manatees from the observation deck and boardwalk or rent kayaks and paddle out to see them coming and going into the “bay.” The area is especially interesting during the winter months; the colder it gets the more manatees there are.
The world-class Peace River Botanical & Sculpture Gardens lies on a lovely riverside estate in Punta Gorda.
For families in Sarasota, the canopy boardwalk in the Ann Goldstein Children’s Rainforest Garden at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is a don’t-miss. Other family musts include the Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium and Sarasota Jungle Gardens.
FIFTH AVENUE SOUTH, DOWNTOWN NAPLES • BRAND USA
JANUARY
Mullet Festival, Goodland Sarasota Pride Festival
FEBRUARY
Bradenton Area River Regatta Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival Edison Festaival of Light, Fort Myers Everglades City Seafood Festival Swamp Cabbage Festival, Labelle
MARCH
Clewiston Sugar Festival
Fort Myers Beach Shrimp Festival Marco Island Seafood & Music Festival
APRIL
“Ding” Darling Day, Sanibel Island
Minto US OPEN Pickleball Championships,
Naples
Sarasota Chalk Festival, Venice Sarasota Film Festival
Shark’s Tooth Festival, Venice
APRIL–MAY
Forks & Corks Food & Wine Festival, Sarasota
MAY
Harvey Milk Festival, Sarasota
JUNE
Sarasota Music Festival
Spammy Jammy, Goodland
Suncoast Powerboat Grand Prix, Sarasota
SEPTEMBER
Island Hopper Songwriter Fest,
Fort Myers Beach and Captiva Island
OCTOBER
Naples International Film Festival Stone Crab Festival, Naples
NOVEMBER
American Sand Sculpting Championship, Fort Myers Beach
Florida Panther Festival, Naples
DECEMBER
Bradenton Blues Festival
ANNUAL EVENTS
2024-25 TRAVEL GUIDE TO FLORIDA 41