Southwest Florida Tacos & Treats Festival set for Sept. 5
Live music and a plethora of taco and treat vendors will fill Mike Greenwell Regional Park for the inaugural Southwest Florida Tacos & Treats Festival.
The festival will be held from noon to 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 5, at Mike Greenwell Regional Park.
“This will be the first time the Southwest Florida Tacos & Treats Festival is being held at Mike Greenwell Regional Park,” said Hannah Gentry, Battle Bros Events marketing manager. “We’ve been hosting our Tacos & Treats festivals in Brevard County, Daytona Beach, and the Treasure Coast for years, and we’re really excited to bring the event to the Fort Myers area for the first time.”
The festival will benefit My Warrior’s Place, a local nonprofit that provides support, healing, and hope for veterans, service members and their families.
“We partner with a nonprofit organization for every one of our events,” she said. “We chose My Warrior’s Place because of the incredible work they do to support veterans, first responders, Gold Star families, and their loved ones in the community. We’re proud to use the festival as an opportunity to bring awareness to their mission and support the work they do.”
The festival, which is sponsored by Publix, will feature more than 20 tacos and treat vendors. The list of vendors, which is updated weekly, can be found at www.swfltacostreatsfestival.com.
The menu items will be priced at $1 to $5 per item. There also will be a wide selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, including such drinks as flavored margaritas, cocktails, hard seltzers, local craft brews, domestic and imported beers.
The festival will feature two food competitions – the Taco Division and the Treat Division. The participating vendors will compete for both Judges’ Choice and People’s Choice awards.
“A panel of judges will evaluate entries based on taste, quality, and presentation,” Gentry said. “Festival attendees will also get to be part of the competition by sampling tacos and treats throughout the day and voting for their favorites. Their votes will ultimately determine the People’s Choice winners for Best Taco and Best Treat.”
She said the competitions are a fun way to showcase the participating local and regional food vendors while also giving festival goers a chance to have a say in which creations come out on top.
The family-friendly festival will also offer plenty for the youth to enjoy – a free kid zone featuring bounce houses, obstacle courses, and inflatable games. There will also be cornhole, football toss, giant Connect Four, and axe throwing for the older kids.
Live music will be played throughout the day and a large craft fair marketplace featuring more than 60 marketplace vendors of local businesses, artists, crafters, and specialty artisans will be featured.
“One of the biggest things we want people to know is that this is truly a community-focused event,” Gentry said. “We love creating events that bring people together while giving small and local businesses an opportunity to showcase what they do and reach new customers. That’s also a big reason why every taco and treat at the festival is $5 or less. We want guests to be able to walk around, try something from multiple food vendors, discover new local favorites, and really experience everything the festival has to offer.”
Admission is free for children 8 and younger and $10 per person for those 9 and older. Tickets can be purchased online at www.swfltacostreatsfestival.com.
Mike Greenwell Regional Park is at 11831 Bayshore Road, North Fort Myers.
To reach Meghan Bradbury, please email news@breezenewspapers.com