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The SWFL Ag Expo includes a multitude of rides including the ferris wheel. -COURTESY PHOTO<\/p>\n
For those looking beyond palm trees and white sandy beaches to experience the more rural side of what Southwest Florida has to offer, look no further than the Lee County Agricultural Exposition (Ag Expo). The SWFL Ag Expo is a fair-style exposition that aims to showcase Lee County\u2019s agricultural roots with livestock shows, rides, food, and live entertainment; it opens Feb. 26 and runs through March 8 at the Mike Greenwell Convention Center (formerly known as the Lee County Civic Center).\n<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople think of Southwest Florida as beaches, and you know, that it\u2019s just a coastline or something like that, which, great, yes, everybody wants to come to the beach. But when you go into North Fort Myers, I mean, people do not realize all that Southwest Florida is and how important that agriculture is to everybody,\u201d said Miriam Dotson, Lee County communications coordinator.\n<\/p>\n
To help exhibit this unrealized agricultural aspect, the Ag Expo will host hundreds of show animals and creative living demonstrations. Spearheading these is the 4-H, a youth organization with the objective of teaching young people life skills through a learn-by-doing approach. Those involved with the 4-H have the opportunity to raise livestock to show and create living showings, which are educational displays created based on what 4-H members have learned about agriculture and the world around them. All sorts of livestock will be on show, from chickens to goats, and from rabbits to horses.\n<\/p>\n
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4H youth Kara Croft tending to her swine. Photo taken on August 18th, 2016. -COURTESY PHOTO<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really rewarding to watch the youth just thrive,\u201d said Arielle Pierce, 4-H Agent. \u201cThey really get to thrive in the community, and they really get to thrive with their peers, within 4-H, so the other 4-H members all, for the most part, champion each other.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
For 4-H members, the Ag Expo is the culmination of a year\u2019s work; whether it be a year dedicated to raising an animal for show or a year of research for a creative living showing.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is kind of their end of the year come-to-fruition of their projects, where they get to show all of the hard work that they\u2019ve done throughout the year and all of the things that they\u2019ve learned. The Ag Expo show offers the ability to showcase how far they\u2019ve come in their project,\u201d said Pierce.\n<\/p>\n
For some attendees, the livestock and creative living showings end up being an unexpected, but welcome surprise.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI encourage people to walk through the barns and not just kind of quickly walk through them, but to take time to appreciate what\u2019s there and all the hard work that the kids did. It\u2019s a whole aspect of the samples at Ag Expo that many of our folks might just walk past if they didn\u2019t know it was there,\u201d said Pierce.\n<\/p>\n
Each night of Ag Expo will showcase a different animal showing competition. Details for each night can be found at www.swflagexpo.com\/pages\/livestock<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n Ag Expo has offerings for youngsters beyond 4-H as well; the Heritage Village acts as a portal into the path for all ages. The village is an opportunity to experience traditional crafts such as pottery, tin smithing, woodturning and a cowboy camp where kids can learn lasso skills and more.\n<\/p>\n \u201cIt is very kid-friendly and is really interactive, so it\u2019s a great way to also enjoy the Ag Expo,\u201d said Dotson.\n<\/p>\n Attendees can jump on their saddles and ride some of the horses at the Ag Expo. -COURTESY PHOTO<\/p>\n For the adults, beyond checking out the interactive village and the livestock shows, there is also a rotating lineup of live musicians highlighting the expo.\n<\/p>\n \u201cMusic is a really great uniter,\u201d said Dotson. \u201cMusic is really important to every community.\u201d\n<\/p>\n With the Ag Expo being focused on highlighting what Lee County has to offer, many of the musical acts are local to the area, such as Chasing Denver, Deb & the Dynamics and Ralph Curtis.\n<\/p>\n \u201cThese are very talented people, and a lot of them are very local. So these are people who live here as well, and I think people would be so impressed to know the local talent that we have in Southwest Florida,\u201d said Dotson. \u201cMaybe you don\u2019t like rides as much, but you\u2019re going to love the music.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Dotson also emphasized that the focus is on the 4-H and their showcases\n<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you go to the event, and then you\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, okay, yeah, I\u2019ll see some animals,\u2019 but you go back there, and you realize it\u2019s a lot of kids,\u201d said Dotson. \u201cThey\u2019re very easy to talk to, they love talking about it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n For those looking to get involved with 4-H, there are ways for anyone to get involved at various levels.\n<\/p>\n \u201cWhether they are in Lee County or if they\u2019re just visiting, there\u2019s most likely a 4H program close to them and we\u2019d love to have them join and be able to experience what 4H is all about,\u201d said Pierce.\n<\/p>\n For Dotson, the satisfaction from her part in organizing the event comes from the enjoyment of others.\n<\/p>\n \u201cI love watching people\u2019s faces when they go to places like the AG Expo or explore beyond, you know, into North Fort Myers and just see all that it has to offer and how beautiful it is,\u201d said Dotson.\n<\/p>\n The Ag Expo runs from Feb. 26 through March 8 at the Mike Greenwell Convention Center. Information for ticket options and times is available at www.swflagexpo.com\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tGoats in a pen at a livestock show. -COURTESY PHOTO<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Attendees-can-jump-on-their-saddles-and-ride-some-of-the-horses-at-the-Ag-Expo.jpg\")
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