Global Food and Farm Festival

2026 Event Information

Tours, Experiences, and Workshops for the whole family!

Make time to join us for incredible experiences for all ages on the farm!

Festival Location:
17391 Durrance Road, North Fort Myers, FL 33917

Farm Day (Saturday)

Saturday, March 14

Additional Workshop Days

January 17 – April 11
(Selected Days)

Saturday, March 14th, 2026

Saturday Farm Day – 9am – 3pm – Spend the day exploring our 57-acre Global Farm, where you’ll step into tropical rainforest demonstrations, discover creative approaches to alternative energy, and experience hands-on learning for all ages. Kids and adults alike can taste, touch, and explore their way around the world while learning about global hunger and the practical solutions that make a difference.

This special Saturday event offers a festival-style atmosphere—wander the farm at your own pace, enjoy educational activities, meet our team, and take in a full day of discovery. Food trucks will be available on-site for lunch.

Food Trucks

  • Red Roc Cravings
  • Dave’s Neapolitan Pizza
  • Sunny Days Ice Cream

Ticket Prices

  • Ages 6+: $7/person
    (at the door price $10)
  • Family Tickets (2 Adults, 3+ children): $30
    (at the door price $35)
  • Child (age 0-5): FREE
Get Farm Day Tickets
Get Family Tickets

Workshops, Interactive Demonstrations & Live-On-Stage Cooking Shows:

  • Sugar Cane & Peanut Butter Tasting
  • Wool Spinning 
  • Microscope Exploration
  • Tomatoes – challenges of fruitfulness for SWFL
  • Seed Saving
  • Regenerative Practices for Edible Landscapes
  • Compost Building
  • Cooking Shows
  • And MORE

Additional Workshop Days

This year we have exciting news! We are extending our workshop experiences beyond the festival!

Join us in January, February, March and April for a hands-on workshop and end the morning with a Tropical Tasting Lunch!

Saturday, January 17th, 2026

9:30 am – ECHO Tour

Tour Information & Tickets

10:00 am – Regenerative Practices for Edible Landscapes

$25 - Get Tickets

Southwest Florida presents a variety of unique challenges for home gardeners.  Poor drainage, sandy and infertile soils, salt inundations, high pH water, and winter frost among others can lead to poor growth and discouragement as you struggle to help your plants survive.  Regenerative approaches to agriculture harness the ability of natural systems to restore and rebuild soil fertility, organic matter, and biodiversity over time.  Ecovision incorporates some of these practices into their edible landscape design and management, and is encouraged by the results.  Come learn about how you can use regenerative practices in your edible landscape, as well as share your experience.

12:00 pm – Tropical Tasting Lunch

$25 - Get Tickets

Enjoy a farm-fresh lunch in our community garden! 

1:30pm – ECHO Tour

Tour Information & Tickets

Saturday, February 21st, 2026

9:30 am – ECHO Tour

Tour Information & Tickets

10:00 am – Walking Tour – The Berkeley Method: Hot Composting Lecture & Demo

$15 - Get Tickets

Learn to create high-quality compost in as little as 18 days. This workshop begins with a lecture explaining the science of the Berkeley hot composting method, covering the right ingredients, moisture levels, and turning schedule. Afterward, we’ll move outside for a hands-on demonstration to build a pile from start to finish.

12:00 pm – Tropical Tasting Lunch

$25 - Get Tickets

Enjoy a farm-fresh lunch in our community garden! 

1:30pm – ECHO Tour

Tour Information & Tickets

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

9:30 am – ECHO Tour

Tour Information & Tickets

10:00 am – Walking Tour – The Beekeeping Experience (Beginner)

$15 - Get Tickets

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! This is a beginners level tour. 

10:00 am – Walking Tour – Summer Ideas for SWFL Gardens!

$30 - Get Tickets

Growing in Southwest FL is not like growing in Northern states, as you probably know. In this workshop, the instructor will walk through some options for managing your garden in the hot, humid summer months. Options will include various cover crops, a few highlighted tropical crops, and pest management in the off-season. Participants will take home 3 packets of SWFL summer-appropriate seeds to try at home: a legume, a leafy green, and a vegetable.

12:00 pm – Tropical Tasting Lunch

$25 - Get Tickets

Enjoy a farm-fresh lunch in our community garden! 

1:30pm – ECHO Tour

Tour Information & Tickets

1:30 pm – Walking Tour – The Beekeeping Experience (Intermediate)

$15 - Get Tickets

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! This is an intermediate level tour.

1:30 pm – How to Grow and Use Moringa

$20 - Get Tickets

Moringa is a fast-growing tree that produces nutritious leaves with many health benefits. The leaves can be eaten fresh or dry. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to grow, harvest, and utilize moringa leaves. There will be a hands-on opportunity to convert dried moringa leaves into high-quality powder that can be stored and incorporated into various foods.

Thursday, March 19, 2026

9:30 am – ECHO Tour

Tour Information & Tickets

10:00 am – Gardening with Mushrooms

$20 - Get Tickets

Discover how fungi can transform your garden! In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn the basics of using mushroom spawn to grow edible mushrooms on logs and in compost, wood chips, and mulch. We’ll explore practical techniques for integrating mushrooms into your garden ecosystem, creating productive beds that recycle organic matter and boost biodiversity.

Beyond growing mushrooms, you’ll learn how fungal networks improve soil health by enhancing nutrient cycling and water retention. We’ll also cover how certain mushrooms can help manage pests naturally, reducing the need for chemical interventions. Whether you’re a home gardener or a sustainability enthusiast, this class offers actionable strategies to harness the power of fungi for a healthier, more resilient garden. 

12:00 pm – Tropical Tasting Lunch

$25 - Get Tickets

Enjoy a farm-fresh lunch in our community garden! 

1:30pm – ECHO Tour

Tour Information & Tickets

1:30 pm – Seed Saving for Gardeners

$20 - Get Tickets

Covered will be how to successfully save seeds from your own garden. This will include Botany 101: biological fundamentals, flower anatomy, pollination, how to plan for seed saving, harvesting and processing, and seed storage. This will include a workshop presentation on seed saving along with a seed packet with varieties that are not readily available in stores.

1:30 pm – The nuts and bolts of Fecal Egg Counts (FEC) for parasite detection in your animals

$20 - Get Tickets

How do you know if your sheep or goat needs to be dewormed?  And how do you know if the dewormer that you use, whether natural or commercial, is effective?  Come join us for this practical, hands-on workshop which will demonstrate from start to finish the use of a Fecal Egg Count test, in conjunction with clinical signs, to know if and when your animal should be dewormed.

Saturday, April 11, 2026

9:30 am – ECHO Tour

Tour Information & Tickets

10:00 am – Invasive Species of Florida

$10 - Get Tickets

An introduction to the ever increasing exotic species that now make Florida their home and how they impact our gardens and native ecology.

12:00 pm – Tropical Tasting Lunch

$25 - Get Tickets

Enjoy a farm-fresh lunch in our community garden! 

1:30pm – ECHO Tour

Tour Information & Tickets

About the Global Farm Tour

Our Global Farm is anything but typical. Through our tour, you’ll experience farming at its most creative, with unique demonstrations, plants, and techniques being used to help farmers and urban gardeners in developing countries.

Our farm features seven distinct settings, each with its own unique crops, techniques, and animals from around the world. ECHO is home to one of the largest collections of tropical food plants in the United States. Our Urban Garden is a tour standout, featuring some unconventional yet effective methods for growing crops in areas with limited to no soil.

Register For A Farm Tour (Ticketed Separately)