Downtown Bonita's Season Opens at Banyan Square, Weeks Before Riverside Park's First Concert

The fountain on the Banyan lot at 27381 Old 41 Road has 74 lights and nozzles. In daytime "play fountain" mode the water reaches about six feet. In evening performance mode it shoots up to 20 feet, lit in color and timed to music played through four 360-degree speakers set around the edge. Another 54 lights are strung in the banyan tree and four more in the neighboring oak, so the tree is part of the show.

City officials cut the ribbon on Banyan Square and its splash pad on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026, during the city's Happy Haunts Halloween Stroll. The News-Press photographed the ceremony that night as children ran through the spray. That makes Banyan Square the newest public space downtown. For the first part of this season it is also the most finished one, because the park the city normally builds its event calendar around is still getting its own renovation done.

Riverside Park Has Been Closed Since April

The City of Bonita Springs' April 8 downtown update said phase one at Riverside Park was complete and phase two would begin the second week of April 2026. The park would close for that work. The city put the park and the Banyan lot splash pad on track together for a "grand opening in Winter 2026." The splash pad opened in October. On the city's Riverside Park recreation page, the bandshell is still listed as closed for renovations, with a planned reopening of "late fall."

This matters because of how much of downtown's year happens in that park. The same page says most city special events are held there, including Celebrate Bonita, Star Spangled Bonita, Taste of Bonita and Movies in the Park. The Historic Liles Hotel, the Artist Cottages, the Butterfly Garden and the Veteran's Memorial walkway are all on its grounds too. When the park closes, downtown's schedule has to move somewhere else.

So the city told event organizers where to go. Its April update pointed them to the Liles Hotel Plaza and the green space between the Liles Hotel and Riverside Park, both of which stayed available. It also published an event-planner toolkit and a parking map for the construction period.

The Calendar Returns to the Park on Dec. 8

The city's 2026–2027 approved special events list has no Riverside Park events in November. Its first booking there is Dec. 8. From that date the park carries almost the entire winter schedule:

The three Riverside Park National Fine Art Festival weekends are listed by Arts Bonita at 10450 Reynolds St., with Saturday hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. More dates follow in spring. The Stardust Memories Big Band plays March 9, March 23, April 6 and April 13, all from 7 to 9 p.m. The Bonita Springs Concert Band plays March 14 and April 11 from 4 to 6 p.m.

The city's calendar places its first Riverside Park event of the season on Dec. 8, with a big-band night.

The Liles Hotel Plaza and Old 41 Share December With the Park

Two of the list's December events use addresses near the park, not the park itself. Wine & Wonder is on Dec. 11 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at 27180 Old 41 Road. Kris Kringle Village is at the Liles Hotel on Dec. 12–13, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day. Kris Kringle Village falls on the same weekend as the Bonita Springs Concert Band's Dec. 13 evening show in the park. That makes it the first weekend this season with events at the Liles Hotel and in the park, both listed for the same Sunday.

The Banyan Square splash pad is a short walk along the same corridor. The city built its first choreographed fountain show for Happy Haunts, a 10-minute show that ran nightly from Oct. 22 through Oct. 31. The water also runs through a filtration and chlorination system the city compares to a community pool's. The new restroom facilities built on the Banyan lot were part of the same project.

Some newer Old 41 restaurants are also part of a December evening downtown:

• Sugarshack Downtown, 27421 Old 41 Road, across from Riverside Park. Naples Press described it as a restaurant with bars and a live-music venue, launched Jan. 31.
• WichCraft Handcrafted Gourmet Sandwiches, 27975 Old 41 Road, Suite 105, next to The Bohemian. The News-Press covered its soft opening in June 2026.
• HoneyHole Downtown, a live-music restaurant project from the people behind Sugarshack. WINK reported it is expected to open in early 2027, with the Telephone North and Telephone South restaurant projects also under construction.

The Promenade at Bonita Bay Has Shifted to Season Hours

The Local Roots Flea Market runs every Saturday at the Promenade at Bonita Bay from 8 a.m. to noon, from Oct. 3, 2026, through May 29, 2027. It appears on the same city events list as the downtown concerts. The Promenade switched to season hours on Nov. 1. Through April, shops are open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. In summer, Monday through Saturday hours end at 6 p.m. and most retailers close on Sunday.

A recent addition to the center is Yonutz Donuts and Ice Cream, in Suite 162 at 26795 S. Bay Drive. A Florida Weekly feature published by the Promenade gives an Aug. 24 opening date. The center's Sept. 8 announcement listed hours of 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Those are later hours than the stores around it keep, even in season.

The other weekly event is midweek and downtown. The Bonita Springs Lions' Wednesday Market is a farmers and makers market that the Lions place by Riverside Park, at 10441 Childers St., from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., November 2026 through April 2027. Between the Saturday flea market and the Wednesday market, there are two standing mornings on the calendar every week of the season.

Next Season Adds Imperial 41

Riverside Park's renovation is the near-term project. Imperial 41 is the larger one, and it is scheduled to finish a year later. It is a public-private partnership among the City, Barron Collier Companies and CAPREIT. CAPREIT's announcement describes two buildings with 120 apartments and 19,000 square feet of commercial space. Public features include two parks, restrooms, parking, a fire pit and bike racks. Florida Weekly reports that the two buildings span the Imperial River, that construction continues through 2026 with completion expected in 2027, and that residential leasing begins in late 2027.

Its first commercial tenants are signed: Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy, Simple Beauty Studio, Old Bonita Surf Shop and The Brass Alligator. Florida Weekly gives summer 2027 as the projected date for handing over space for tenant buildouts. SWFL Life reported that The Brass Alligator will move to Imperial 41 from Waterline and open Old Bonita Surf Shop, a beachwear and surf-inspired retail store, there as well. None of that will open this winter. By next season, the stretch of Old 41 around Riverside Park should have a renovated park, Banyan Square in its second year, and a mixed-use block with its own parks and shops.

This season, the Stardust Memories Big Band's Dec. 8 show is the first event on the city's list for the park itself. Saturday mornings at the Promenade, Wednesday mornings on Childers Street and the lit fountain under the banyan are all on the calendar before then.

Downtown changes like these are part of what our clients weigh when they compare Bonita Bay with other communities nearby, and we follow them on their behalf. If you'd like a local read on how Old 41's redevelopment fits your plans for this season or the next, Angela Graziano and the Coastal Living Naples team are glad to talk it through. Schedule Your Free Consultation.