Eliot Perez and Juan Santiago at Art Fest. -STEPHANIE DAVIS / FLORIDA WEEKLY
What I love most about the height of season is the wide variety of all the events that I get to cover – every night is delightfully different, and this past week was the perfect example to remind me that variety is indeed the spice of life!
From theatre openings, to the opening night of the 25th Anniversary of Art Fest Fort Myers, to an unforgettable Feast for the Senses, to a celebratory ribbon cutting – the February fun was fabulous!
Tuesdays With Morrie
Theatre is in full swing here in Southwest Florida and I only wish I could make it to everything. Almost everyone I know got to see “& Juliet”, the touring show at Barbara B. Mann Hall, while I’ve heard awesome things about “Fiddler on the Roof” at Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre. But the show I saw most recently was “Tuesdays With Morrie” (based on the best-selling book by Mitch Albom) in the intimate ArtStage Theatre downtown at Florida Rep. Opening night was sold out, and apparently word about the show is spreading like wildfire because it’s been extended until March 8th. Bring tissues, but also be ready to laugh – what a beautiful story! At Florida Rep, I got to see Shelley Wilson and Terry Kelley, along with Naomi Bloom, Artie D’Allesio, and bunches more.
Happy anniversary ArtFest Fort Myers
The 25th anniversary of ArtFest Fort Myers was wildly successful. Typically, this fine arts festival attracts more than 90,000 patrons from all over to downtown Fort Myers and this year it felt like even more (I hear 95,00!). The art ran the gamut with so many creative professional artists – we came home with handmade jewelry and a few very cool prints. Kudos to new executive director Juan Santiago, along with this top-notch staff and volunteers, for putting together a stellar weekend filled with culture along the river. At the Opening Night VIP Party, I got to see Jason Parrish, Stacy Krupa, Talish Faber, Patty Costello, Cole Newton, Teri Moore, Michele Hylton-Terry, and more, who were all celebrating this artsy weekend.
Feast Of The Senses
The arts and culture theme continued through the weekend, as I had an incredible time at the second annual “Feast for the Senses”, a benefit wine dinner to support the Alliance for the Arts and the brainchild of Alliance supporter and event planner Pamela Beckman. The theatre at the Alliance became a lovely cocktail lounge, while the main gallery was transformed into a beautiful dining room. The food was creative, innovative, and delicious –Kristopher Jubinville (Bonita Bay Club), Ben Voisin (Black Salt Culinary), David Rashty (Michelin Star chef), Taylor Polson-Conley (With Love 3:15), and Julian Pou (Oise Restaurant) created amazing dishes — while the lovely Gina Birch handled the wine pairings – it was truly a culinary experience! Guests included Stefanie Ink-Edwards and Colton Ferry, Rachel and Cole Peacock (Cole did a fab job emcee’ing with Kellie Burns), Spencer Roach, Mila Bridger, Sharetha Davis, Ava Roeder, Carolyn Gora and lots of other culinary adventurers.
A wonderful walk on a long pier
On Monday, I ditched the cocktail wear for flats and a comfy outfit to celebrate the ribbon cutting of the absolutely gorgeous new pier at Riverside Park and the new Tarpon Pier a few blocks away, just east of downtown. Both piers were destroyed during Hurricane Ian, but they’re back and better than ever! Folks who have been around Fort Myers for a long time often speak of such wonderful memories as they grew up fishing from these piers, jumping off and swimming in the river, and long sunset walks. Whether it’s sunset or sunrise, you must check out these sparkling new piers that are reinforced for weather events and will make memories for folks for many years to come. I saw lots of folks there, including Evan Williams, Teresa Watkins Brown, Kevin Anderson, Diana Giraldo and bunches more happy celebrants – it was a delightful afternoon on the water.
Stephanie Davis is a recovering girl-about-town formerly known as the Downtown Diva. A nearly native Southwest Floridian, when she’s not photographing events for Florida Weekly, she’s perfectly content to stay at home binging Netflix with her husband and three cats, Tennessee, Lilibet, and Jack.