36th Annual "Ding" Darling Day Conservation Carnival

Join us to celebrate the 36th annual "Ding" Darling Day, along with Earth Day, on April 26, 2025 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This year's family-centric event once again will be making the “great migration” across the Causeway to Lakes Park in Fort Myers to bring the Refuge to our local communities and a wider audience. The move is part of a larger Refuge System-wide Urban Initiative. Besides tours of the Wildlife on Wheels mobile nature experience, the Refuge and DDWS have planned a full day of Conservation Carnival activities.

Special outdoor activities in the past have included carnival games, prizes, Earth Day crafts, a dunk tank, artist-in-residence programs, guided bilingual birding walks, a biking tour, snow cones, and educational interactions with other local conservation organizations. Additional details on the 2025 activities will be posted on our website in the near future.