🌴 Fort Myers Brief: October 12 - 18

Oktoberfest takes over this week. Fort Myers Brewing pours 50+ beers from Thursday through Sunday, and the German American Social Club in Cape Coral kicks off its huge three-weekend party on Friday. Friday is also Art and Music Walk night downtown, a toga party at Lumber Axe and opening night of The Shark is Broken at Broadway Palm. Saturday brings a first responders car show, a 60-vendor fall market on a farm and a candlelit ghost-story concert on the old Cape Coral Gardens site. Then on Sunday the symphony plays Zelda and Mario for a theater full of kids in costume. A cold front is due Monday, so this might be the first week you need sleeves for the evening plans.

We recommend confirming with event hosts for complete details and current schedules.

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🗓️ Monday, October 12

🛍️ Goodwill Columbus Day Sale
📅 Date: Monday, October 12, 2026
⏰ Time: 9:00 AM
📍 Location: Goodwill stores across Southwest Florida
🏷️ Details: A holiday markdown day at Goodwill stores around the region, and with 59 people already interested, the racks will not stay full for long. Go early if you are hunting Halloween costume pieces.

🐄 Goat Snuggling with Marsala the Highland Calf
📅 Date: Monday, October 12, 2026
⏰ Time: 10:00 AM
📍 Location: 13151 Pinto Lane, Fort Myers, FL 33912
🐐 Details: Sit in the grass and let the goats climb on you while Marsala, the shaggy Highland calf, comes over to investigate. Columbus Day off from school makes this an easy morning with the kids.

🏃‍♀️ Let's Get MOVING, City of Fort Myers
📅 Date: Monday, October 12, 2026
⏰ Time: 11:30 AM
📍 Location: Riverside Community Center, Fort Myers
💪 Details: A free city-run movement class in the air conditioning, at a pace that welcomes beginners. A low-pressure way to start the week.

☘️ Irish Sessions at Point Ybel Downtown
📅 Date: Monday, October 12, 2026
⏰ Time: 6:00 PM
📍 Location: Point Ybel Brewing Co, 2180 W First St Ste. 110, Fort Myers, FL 33901
🎻 Details: Fiddles, whistles and guitars in a circle in the taproom, playing traditional Irish tunes in the pub-session style. Grab a pint and listen, or bring an instrument and sit in.

🗓️ Tuesday, October 13

🪨 Painting Rocks with Sylvia
📅 Date: Tuesday, October 13, 2026
⏰ Time: 9:30 AM
📍 Location: 2166 Virginia Ave, Fort Myers, FL 33901 (across from Edison and Ford Winter Estates)
🎨 Details: A relaxed morning painting rocks for the garden, with guests welcome and free parking in the Larchmont Ave lot. Volunteer master gardeners also give free garden tours.

🪴 Tips for Creating Hypertufa and Cement Fabric Planters
📅 Date: Tuesday, October 13, 2026
⏰ Time: 9:30 AM
📍 Location: 2166 Virginia Ave, Fort Myers, FL 33901 (across from Edison and Ford Winter Estates)
🌿 Details: Learn to make those rustic stone-look planters out of cement, peat and fabric, the kind that cost a fortune at garden shops. Same building and same morning as the rock painting, so you can pick one or try both.

🤝 Network Social
📅 Date: Tuesday, October 13, 2026
⏰ Time: 6:00 PM
📍 Location: Fort Myers (check the event page for the venue)
💼 Details: An after-work mixer for meeting local professionals without a stiff agenda. Bring business cards and plan for a short conversation or two.

🍺 Trivia Night at Point Ybel
📅 Date: Tuesday, October 13, 2026
⏰ Time: 7:30 PM
📍 Location: Point Ybel Brewing Co, 2180 W First St Ste. 110, Fort Myers, FL 33901
🧠 Details: Free to play, downtown, and the regulars take it seriously. Build a team that covers sports, movies and at least one obscure decade.

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🗓️ Wednesday, October 14

💻 Senior Planet Lectures, Workshops and Courses
📅 Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2026
⏰ Time: 1:00 PM
📍 Location: 5100 Tice Street, Fort Myers, FL 33905
📚 Details: Free technology classes for older adults, taught patiently. Useful timing, since Medicare open enrollment starts Thursday and much of it happens online.

⚡ In Person Seminar: Mastering the Art of Electrical Troubleshooting
📅 Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2026
⏰ Time: 5:30 PM
📍 Location: Fort Myers Technical College, Fort Myers
🔧 Details: An evening session on tracking down electrical faults methodically, for working electricians, techs and serious DIYers. Practical skills you can use on the job Thursday.

🗓️ Thursday, October 15

🍻 Oktoberfest at Fort Myers Brewing Company
📅 Date: Thursday, October 15 through Sunday, October 18, 2026
⏰ Time: Merch sales open Thursday at 3:00 PM
📍 Location: Fort Myers Brewing Company, 12811 Commerce Lakes Drive, Fort Myers
🥨 Details: Four free days with 50+ beers and seltzers, food trucks and live music from Ben Allen Band, Rock Republic, Austin James Band and more, with families and dogs welcome. Saturday's free stein-hoisting contest is the main event.

🏘️ Fort Myers Ward 3 Community Meeting
📅 Date: Thursday, October 15, 2026
⏰ Time: 6:30 PM
📍 Location: Lindsford Clubhouse and Pool, Fort Myers
🗣️ Details: Councilperson Terolyn Watson meets with Ward 3 residents in person, and online viewing is available if you register ahead of time. Bring your questions about roads, drainage and whatever is happening on your street.

📄 Resume Writing, Job Search and Job Application Workshop
📅 Date: Thursday, October 15, 2026
⏰ Time: 9:00 AM
📍 Location: 5100 Tice Street, Fort Myers, FL 33905
📝 Details: Free and hands on. Bring whatever resume you have, however outdated, and leave with one that gets read.

⌨️ Self-Paced Typing and Computer Digital Training
📅 Date: Thursday, October 15, 2026
⏰ Time: 1:00 PM
📍 Location: 5100 Tice Street, Fort Myers, FL 33905
🖥️ Details: Drop in, work at your own speed, leave when you are done. Same building as the morning workshop, so you can make a day of it.

👟 Point Ybel Run Club
📅 Date: Thursday, October 15, 2026
⏰ Time: 6:30 PM
📍 Location: Point Ybel Brewing Co, 2180 W First St Ste. 110, Fort Myers, FL 33901
🏃 Details: Every Thursday, every pace, and a cold beer at the finish. With a cold front coming through, this could be the most comfortable run since spring.

🗓️ Friday, October 16

🦈 The Shark is Broken (Opening Night)
📅 Date: Friday, October 16, 2026 (runs through November 14)
⏰ Time: Dinner 5:30 PM, show 7:30 PM
📍 Location: Off Broadway Palm, Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre, 1380 Colonial Blvd, Fort Myers, FL 33907
🎬 Details: A comedy about the three Jaws actors stuck on a boat in 1974 while the mechanical shark keeps breaking down and tempers boil over. Tickets are $75 dinner and show or $60 show only (plus a $3 fee), recommended for mature audiences.

🥨 Cape Coral Oktoberfest
📅 Date: Friday, October 16 through Sunday, October 18, 2026 (returns October 23 to 25)
📍 Location: German American Social Club, 2101 SW Pine Island Rd, Cape Coral, FL 33991
🎺 Details: Billed as Southwest Florida's largest Oktoberfest, with 3 stages, 2 dance floors, nonstop bands, schnitzel, bratwurst, imported German beer and a kids' carnival with rides. General admission hours and prices were not posted at press time, so check the site before you go.

🕯️ Candlelight: Queen vs. ABBA
📅 Date: Friday, October 16, 2026
⏰ Time: 6:00 PM
📍 Location: Music and Arts Community Center, 13411 Shire Lane, Fort Myers, FL 33912
🎻 Details: A string quartet plays Bohemian Rhapsody and Dancing Queen by candlelight in a show about 60 minutes long, for ages 8 and up. Tickets run $43 to $55.50, and a Coldplay and Imagine Dragons show follows at 8:30 PM.

🎶 Resacoustic Trio at The Hideaway for Music Walk
📅 Date: Friday, October 16, 2026
⏰ Time: 5:30 PM
📍 Location: The Hideaway Bar, Downtown Fort Myers
🎸 Details: Third Friday means the downtown Art and Music Walk, and this acoustic trio is playing indoors at The Hideaway. Start here, then wander the River District.

🏛️ Toga Party with The Crank Ups at Lumber Axe
📅 Date: Friday, October 16, 2026
⏰ Time: 7:00 PM
📍 Location: Lumber Axe, 2158 Colonial Blvd #1, Fort Myers, FL 33907
🪓 Details: Live party rock from The Crank Ups, a bedsheet dress code and axes on the wall. Forty-one people are interested so far, which is a lot of togas.

🎲 Board Game Night and Sit 'n' Stitch
📅 Date: Friday, October 16, 2026
⏰ Time: 7:00 PM
📍 Location: 1342 Colonial Blvd, Unit C18, Fort Myers, FL 33907
🧶 Details: Bring a board game, a knitting project or both, and settle in with people who think that sounds like a great Friday. The quiet option for the week.

🍸 Shakers Martini Night and Karaoke with Andrea
📅 Date: Friday, October 16, 2026
⏰ Time: 5:00 PM
📍 Location: The Plantation Golf and Country Club, Fort Myers
🎤 Details: Martinis first, then the karaoke mic comes out with Andrea hosting. Liquid courage is part of the plan.

💬 Uplift Peer Group
📅 Date: Friday, October 16, 2026
⏰ Time: 6:30 AM
📍 Location: 2506 Second Street, Suite 106, Fort Myers, FL 33901
🌅 Details: Early-morning peer support downtown, same time every week. Steady, quiet and there no matter how the week went.

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🗓️ Saturday, October 17

🚒 Lowe's First Responders and Fire Safety Car Show
📅 Date: Saturday, October 17, 2026
⏰ Time: 10:00 AM
📍 Location: Lowe's, 8040 Dani Dr, Fort Myers, FL 33966
🚓 Details: Fire trucks, police cruisers and show cars fill the lot, with fire safety tips for families mixed in. With 226 people interested, it is the most popular Facebook listing of the week, and kids can climb up and look inside the rigs.

🌻 Fall Vintage and Handmade Market on the Farm
📅 Date: Saturday, October 17, 2026
⏰ Time: 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM
📍 Location: M&M Farms, 5450 Higginbotham Road, Fort Myers
🧺 Details: More than 60 vintage, handmade and boutique vendors plus food trucks, a flower truck, farm animals, a bounce house and fall photo spots. Free entry, $5 to park.

👻 CandleGlow: Tales of the Haunted Rose Gardens
📅 Date: Saturday, October 17, 2026
⏰ Time: Doors 6:00 PM, concert 7:30 PM
📍 Location: Rosen Ballroom, The Westin Cape Coral Resort at Marina Village, 5951 Silver King Blvd, Cape Coral, FL 33914
🌹 Details: A string quartet plays Halloween classics by candlelight while storytellers revive the legend of Cape Coral Gardens, the theme park that closed in 1970 on this very spot. General admission $45, VIP $100 with premium seats and two drinks.

🎵 Ryan Biter in Concert, with Andy Getch Opening
📅 Date: Saturday, October 17, 2026
⏰ Time: 7:00 PM
📍 Location: St. John's Church, 3049 McGregor Blvd, Fort Myers, FL 33901
🎙️ Details: A singer-songwriter evening in a church with great acoustics, with Andy Getch warming up the room. An intimate alternative to the beer tents.

🃏 Charlie's Cards and Collectibles Show
📅 Date: Saturday, October 17, 2026
⏰ Time: 10:00 AM
📍 Location: 4125 Cleveland Ave, Fort Myers, FL 33901
🏆 Details: Sports cards, Pokémon and other collectibles to buy, sell and trade. Dig out the shoebox from the closet and find out what it is actually worth.

🩺 3D Mammography Screening Event
📅 Date: Saturday, October 17, 2026
⏰ Time: 9:00 AM
📍 Location: St. John First Missionary Baptist Church, Fort Myers
🎀 Details: A community screening day during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, held at the church so it is close to home. Call ahead or check the event page to see what to bring.

🍅 Downtown Fort Myers Farmers Market
📅 Date: Saturday, October 17, 2026
⏰ Time: 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM
📍 Location: Fort Myers Farmers Market, 2200 First St, Downtown River District
🧺 Details: Every Saturday under the bridge, year round, with Kaye Krest's jewelry table in its usual spot. Get there early for the best produce.

🧘‍♀️ Poses and Pints Yoga
📅 Date: Saturday, October 17, 2026
⏰ Time: 9:30 AM
📍 Location: Point Ybel Brewing Co, 2180 W First St Ste. 110, Fort Myers, FL 33901
🍺 Details: Yoga on the brewery floor and a pint afterward, all done before lunch. The farmers market is a short walk away.

🎧 Live from 2 to 5 at Point Ybel Brewing Co
📅 Date: Saturday, October 17, 2026
⏰ Time: 2:00 PM
📍 Location: Point Ybel Brewing Co, 2180 W First St Ste. 110, Fort Myers, FL 33901
🍻 Details: An afternoon set in the taproom with no cover. An easy stop between the morning markets and your evening plans.

🗓️ Sunday, October 18

🎮 Press Play: A Gamer's Halloween Family Concert
📅 Date: Sunday, October 18, 2026
⏰ Time: Doors and lobby activities 1:00 PM, concert 2:00 PM
📍 Location: Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall, 8099 College Parkway SW, Fort Myers
🍄 Details: Gulf Coast Symphony plays Super Mario Bros., Zelda, Final Fantasy, Halo, Minecraft and a K-Pop Demon Hunters tribute, with treats, an instrument zone and a costume contest in the lobby beforehand. Tickets from $57, and costumes do not have to be video game themed.

🎭 All Week

🖋️ The Pillowman at The Laboratory Theater
📅 Date: Through Sunday, October 25, 2026
📍 Location: The Laboratory Theater of Florida, 1634 Woodford Ave, Fort Myers, FL 33901
🎭 Details: Martin McDonagh's dark, funny thriller about a writer interrogated because real crimes look a lot like his short stories. Not for kids, perfect for October, tickets $15 to $30.

🎸 Forever Everly: The Everly Brothers Rockumentary
📅 Date: Through Sunday, October 25, 2026
📍 Location: Florida Repertory Theatre, ArtStage Studio, 2267 Bay St, Fort Myers
🎶 Details: Two singers perform the Everly Brothers live over documentary footage in the small studio, where every seat is close. Box office 239-332-4488.

⚠️ Please verify all event details with the respective organizers before attending, as schedules and venues may change.

📰 What's Happening in Fort Myers

🔗 Lee County Set Aside Up to $50 Million for a Bigger Arena on the Old Civic Center Site
Commissioners voted to put up to $50 million in federal disaster recovery money into the 1978 Civic Center site at Mike Greenwell Regional Park in North Fort Myers and asked staff for a 70,000 to 80,000 square foot arena instead of the 30,000 square foot concept, though demolition could be up to a year away.

🔗 Cape Coral Froze Raises for Non-Union City Workers in a 6-2 Vote
Mayor John Gunter wants the budgeted 7.25% raise cut to 4.49%, and council froze raises over City Attorney Aleksandr Boksner's legal objection, with any eventual raise backdated to the first full pay period in October.

🔗 Cape Coral's $400 Million Trash Contract Fight Is Headed to State Judges
Council sent protests from Coastal Waste and Recycling and Waste Pro to the state Division of Administrative Hearings for a review that could take four to six months, after City Manager Michael Ilczyszyn recused himself over a bid-rigging accusation aimed at him.

🔗 A Mayoral Candidate Sued Cape Coral Over the North 3 Utility Assessments
Lisa Cohen-Adkinson is asking a judge to decide whether the city's method for the $35,000 to $41,000 assessments follows state law, ahead of the council's final vote on November 2, the day before the city election.

🔗 The $500 Million Bimini East Project Cleared Its First Hearing
Crown Development's plan for 900 homes, 250 hotel rooms and a 50-slip marina on about 34 acres now heads to a final public hearing at 4 PM on October 21 at Cape Coral City Hall.

🔗 Lee Schools Is Writing a New Athletics Code of Conduct After Two Coaching Scandals
Superintendent Denise Carlin wants North Fort Myers High athletic director Joseph Bowen fired over an alleged pay-to-play baseball setup, Mariner's head coach resigned and five other coaches were fired, and the board gets a first reading October 13 with a vote November 17.

🔗 Funeral Mass for Bishop Frank Dewane Is Wednesday in Fort Myers
The Diocese of Venice will hold the 2 PM Mass on October 14 at St. John XXIII Catholic Church, 13060 Palomino Lane, with Archbishop James Checchio presiding and a livestream for those who cannot attend.

🔗 Lee County Approved $15 Million to Rebuild Main Street on San Carlos Island
The Helene and Milton recovery money covers drainage, repaving and sidewalks, and the county's $1.7 million Olsen Marina lot will get a drainage outfall instead of the boat ramp people had hoped for.

🔗 Fort Myers Beach Is Selling 500 Non-Resident Parking Passes at $300 Each
About 70 of the passes, good through December 31, 2027, sold on day one at Bay Oaks, while meters went from $5 to $6 an hour on October 1 and resident passes rose from $50 to $75.

🔗 Four Candidates Are Running for Three Fort Myers Beach Council Seats
Anita Cereceda, Rebecca Link, Tom Brady and Ed Schoonover debated merging the town's fire district into Iona's and its mosquito district into Lee County's at a library forum, with incumbents John King and John McLean not running again.

🔗 The Lee Clerk Will Now Review County Contracts All Year Long
Clerk Kevin Karnes's Inspector General unit will check County Commission, Port Authority and Clerk's Office contracts in short sprints instead of only in the annual audit plan, with reports posted at leeclerk.org/IG.

🔗 FWC Is Investigating a Newborn Dolphin's Death on Fort Myers Beach
The 3.2-foot, 35-pound male calf, believed to be under a month old, washed ashore with no obvious signs of a boat strike, and lab tests are pending.

🔗 The Goodz Is Rebuilding as a Three-Story Store on Estero Boulevard
Owner Graham Belger, who has sold out of trailers on the site since April 2023, is driving pilings for an elevated shop with hardware, souvenirs, Love Boat Ice Cream and a third-floor arcade, aiming to open in 2027.

🔗 Hurricane Isaias Stayed West of Southwest Florida
The season's first hurricane tracked toward the Pensacola area and left Lee County with 4 to 6 foot Gulf waves and breezy southeast winds, with a cold front expected to follow on Monday.

🔗 Lee Health Patients on UnitedHealthcare Have Until January 1 to Sort Out Coverage
Lee Health's in-network contract with UnitedHealthcare ends January 1, 2027, affecting about 50,000 patients, and Medicare open enrollment from October 15 to December 7 is the window to switch plans.

🔗 The Illuminations Lantern Parade Returns to Fort Myers Beach November 7
What's Up FMB's free walking parade starts around 6 PM at 2307 Estero Blvd and ends at Bayside Park, with lantern-making supplies donated to the beach library and Bay Oaks.