Your definitive guide to Southwest Florida’s February cultural calendar, highlighting seasonal sips, gallery openings, immersive art experiences and self-guided tours through Naples, Marco Island and other photo-ready Gulf Coast destinations.
SIGHTS OF INSPIRATION
Vignettes from the Everglades
Each photo in Clyde Butcher’s February 17 exhibit—The Living Flow: The Way of Water at Big Cypress Gallery—is a waypoint through Florida’s aquatic ecosystem. From cypress ponds to the River of Grass, we track down the rare sights and awe-striking locations behind three of the Southwest Florida photographer and conservationist’s most iconic images.
In Search of the Cigar Orchid
Venture out behind Clyde’s gallery on the grounds of Big Cypress National Preserve to access one of the photographer’s landmark locations, a spot he returned to time and again over nine years to capture the scene in Cigar Orchid Pond. The image’s namesake flower sets the image apart. Among the rarest species in the preserve, the mottled yellow and red blooms once grew abundantly off the side of buttonwoods and cypress trees, but poaching has left them on the brink of disappearance. If you can’t find Clyde’s specific spot, you may find the orchid’s captivating presence speckled across Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, where replanting efforts in 2014 have helped with reintroduction.
Lost in the Lily Pads
In eastern Hendry County, uncover the lily pad-laden expanse that lies amid Stormwater Treatment Area 5/6. Originally set aside to filter water before it reaches the Everglades, the area has become a haven for birders, with more than 200 species spotted seasonally among the grassy shallows. It took Clyde nearly an hour by airboat to reach the setting, passing through miles of dense cattails—a species that proliferates in polluted waters—before the water opened up and he shot Conservation 5. Like Clyde, you’ll need a vessel to find this view, but the 20-mile public use area also includes the Florida National Scenic Trail, open for hiking, biking and cycling daily.
Into the Mangrove Tunnel
Running through the Western Everglades near Big Cypress Gallery, the Turner River’s 10.5-mile stretch is another peek into Clyde’s stomping grounds. The photographer is taken by the river at low tide, when mangrove legs stand tall and branches and bromeliads form a canopy, like in Turner River 5. Access the alcove by way of the paddling trail, starting at Turner River Launch and ending at Chokoloskee. During the trek, float through green, dense marshes and into the vast Ten Thousand Islands estuary.
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Clyde Butcher’s Conservation 5 (2004)
february gulf passport clyde butcher art show conservation 5
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Clyde Butcher’s Turner River 5 (1995)
february gulf passport clyde butcher art show turner river
PERFECT PAIRINGS
Art and Harmony
Experience the intricacy and comfort of Japanese culture from February 6 to 8. Start with a pit stop at Naples Botanical Garden’s Annual Ikebana Exhibition, where local floral artists showcase a historic Japanese artform emphasizing line, form and balance. Then, make your way to the newest venture from Ichi Togarashi owners: Mimoto, an intimate sushi and omakase outpost in the heart of Naples.
Eat, Drink, Be Merry
Bonita Brew Fest overtakes Riverside Park on February 21, with sips to sample from more than 200 breweries, including Fort Myers’ own Swamp Cat Brewing Co. and Coastal Dayz Brewery. After, take a stroll down Old 41 to the newest Downtown Bonita dining haunt from Brandon and Caitlin Schewe, Canary Club, where Middle Eastern-inspired fare awaits. Follow up the brew samplers with wood-fired sourdough pizzas.
Spirited Engines
On February 7, immerse yourself in a defining piece of the Gulf’s past at the Edison and Ford Winter Estates’ Annual Antique Ford Car Show, where local enthusiasts display rare models from decades past. After, pay homage to the American auto maker’s famed friend and Fort Myers winter neighbor at Escondido Lounge. The Thomas Edison signature cocktail—a mixture of Havana Club Añejo Classico rum, cream cheese foam, guava syrup and lime juice—adds a smooth and tangy indulgence to the evening.
Photography by Brian Tietz
Photography by Anna Nguyen
Getty Images
Photography by Anna Nguyen
OLD FRIENDS, NEW WORK
The Dreamy Ruminations of Reynier Llanes
For his Poets series, the painter created a central character: the Poet. Faceless, genderless and ageless, the Poet appears in each image as a ghostly apparition symbolizing the inner self, the observer, the curious heart. See Reynier’s work at Harmon-Meek Gallery February 2.
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Reynier Llanes’ Echoes (2025)
february gulf passport Reynier Llanes Echoes
Echoes (2025): Reynier’s impressionistic and ethereal work juxtaposes a modern woman against a telephone booth from a bygone era, raising questions about how consciousness and identity supersede the passage of time. The Poet emerges hazily, listening in.
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Reynier Llanes’ Pollination (2025)
february gulf passport Reynier Llanes pollination
Pollination (2025): Unlike most works in the series, Pollination sees the Poet not as a solitary figure, but as part of an embracing couple. The feeling represented—romantic love, past affection or mutual understanding—is ambiguous, but the intensity of the bond between the two is clear. The figures almost disappear into a golden sea of flowers in the foreground, while ominous skies beyond suggest impermanence and a sense of longing.
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Reynier Llanes’ Stellar (2025)
february gulf passport Reynier Llanes stellar
Stellar (2025): Stellar sees the protagonist surrounded by the universe of his own mind, literally and metaphorically removed from earthly concerns, but his solitude feels serene rather than lonely. In this piece, set against the infinite cosmos, the Poet represents the purity of human sentience and the universal search for meaning.