Sunday, November 15, 2026
Try something new and come experience a unique and refreshing adventure. Who knows, you may even discover a new favorite food while you are here!
Festival starts on (Saturday) March 16 and ends on (Friday) March 22. Pick your day, or come all week!… Advance tickets for Saturday will save you $2 per ticket if you purchase before Friday!
Dates: March 16 & 19-22, 2024
Times: 9am - 3pm
Location: 17391 Durrance Road, North Fort Myers, FL 33917
March 16 kicks of this year's festival with "Farm Day" 9am - 3pm. This open air experience features hands-on demonstrations, cooking shows, learning experiences, crafts, food, plant sales and lots of fun, including:
Giant Jenga
Sugar Cane Crushing
Grind-your-own Peanut Butter Sample
Innovative Water Pumps
Moringa
Mushrooms
Spinning Wool
Urban Garden
Balloon Animals & Face Painting
Tropical Lowlands
Monsoon Climate
Semi-Arid Garden
Rainforest
Community Gardening
Peri-Urban Spaces
Silent Auction, Food Trucks, Community Partners & More
Then, March 19-22, we have four days of experiential workshops from beekeeping and how to use moringa... to edible landscape design and fermented foods!
Tuesday, March 19th
12 pm - Tropical Tasting Lunch – $25 – Enjoy a farm-fresh lunch in our community garden! Offered Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday!
5 SPOTS LEFT 1:30 pm - Up Close with the Goats for Homeschoolers – $10 – You know that learning doesn’t have to happen indoors! Join us for an outdoor adventure as we learn about ECHO’s goats and their diet. Then, we’ll pick some plants to feed them! Tickets are needed for guests ages 2-18 but not their grown-ups.
Wednesday, March 20th
10:00 am - Plant Propagation Techniques – $15 – Plant propagation is both a science and an art. Many propagation techniques will be discussed including the various types of rooting media and required tools, as well as the use of common food containers as propagation tools.
6 SPOTS LEFT 1:30 pm - Moringa Cultivation and Uses – $15 – Moringa is a fast-growing tree that produces nutritious leaves with many uses and health benefits. You’ll have a chance to harvest moringa leaves, make your own moringa leaf powder, and use the seeds to purify water! Taught by ECHO staff who have worked with and studied moringa, the workshop will combine factual information with hands-on learning.
Thursday, March 21st
10:00 am - Hands-on Grafting – $20 – Ever wonder how nurseries can guarantee what variety of fruit you will get from your tree? Plant propagators and nurseries around the world use a method called grafting to put desirable and known varieties of a plant onto varieties that are well suited for a particular location. In this workshop you will learn how to select budwood, and basic methods of grafting tropical fruit trees, as well as how to care for your graft. This is a hands-on learning experience where you will get to practice how to graft buds onto rootstock
6 SPOTS LEFT 12 pm - Tropical Tasting Lunch – $25 – Enjoy a farm-fresh lunch in our community garden! Offered Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday!
1:30 pm - Seed Saving for Gardeners – $10 – This workshop will provide an overview of the basic skills required to begin the art and practice of seed saving in your garden. Relevant for home and community gardeners. Topics covered will include information on plant reproduction, planning for the seed garden, seed harvest, drying, processing, and storage, with hands-on activities to tie it all together.
Friday, March 22nd
10 am - Food and Healing – $20 – We all know fresh, healthy food has the potential to boost our immune systems. But did you know that food has also been used to increase community resilience, define geopolitical lines, and resolve interpersonal divisions? We’ll explore the power of food in building personal and communal sustainability with simple shared meals and hospitality. This workshop will include a meal prepared with food grown on the ECHO farm.
12 pm - Tropical Tasting Lunch – $25 – Enjoy a farm-fresh lunch in our community garden! Offered Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday!
7 SPOTS LEFT 1:30 pm - The Beekeeping Experience – $15 – Join Expert Steve Eisele on a walking tour of ECHO’s beehives. Want to be more self sufficient? Want to connect with nature? Learn the basics about keeping bees, or just learn more about these fascinating creatures that mean so much for our ecosystem!
1:30 pm - How to Support your Health through Fermentation – $15 – Learn how you can dramatically improve your digestive, immune, and hormonal health with live fermented foods. Learn how to target and rebuild your microbiome with fiber and other foods. Get a free sample of Medea’s Famous Organic Pink Ginger Kraut and the recipe for you to try at home.
Tickets are available: https://echonet.org/events/global-food-and-farm-festival/
Special Thanks to our Amazing sponsors!
LCEC, Coastal Breeze News, Punta Gorda Garden Club, and VisitFortMyers.com
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