It's not the Lee County Fair, but new Ag Expo has same rides, food and fun

Whatever you do, don't call it the Lee County Fair.

Sure, a lot's the same at the rebranded Southwest Florida Ag Expo: Kids shrieking with delight on carnival rides. Animal exhibits. Live bands. Carnival games. The sweet smell of deep-fried Oreos and sizzling cheeseburgers.

Those were all there on opening night Thursday − and many more things people associate with the Southwest Florida & Lee County Fair, which would've celebrated its 100th anniversary this month.

But this isn't the Lee County Fair.

It’s a new event called the Southwest Florida Ag Expo.

The Lee County Government took over the annual fair last year and rebranded it. The reason: An impasse over contract negotiations with the Southwest Florida & Lee County Fair Association.

But as far as the fair association's Mike Peak can tell, not much has changed at the Southwest Florida Ag Expo − even with a new name.

"They are almost doing everything that we did," said Peak, president of the association's board of directors. "They're calling it a different name, but yeah: It's basically the same thing."

Opening night of the new SWFL Ag Expo

On opening night Thursday, the smells of funnel cakes, fried pickles and corn dogs filled the air. Chickens clucked and cows mooed in the animal barns. People tried winning stuffed animals by throwing darts at balloons and baseballs at beer cans.

And everywhere you looked there were carnival rides: 45 in all, courtesy of usual Lee County Fair provider Reithoffer Shows. The Ferris wheel spun and lighted up in red, white and blue. Kids screamed and laughed on spinning rides like the Tilt-A-Whirl and The Zipper.

All pretty much the same as you'd usually see at the Lee County Fair.

"It's really fun!" said Noelle Brady, 18, of North Fort Myers. "We've been here for over an hour."

But despite the name change, everyone you asked kept calling the Ag Expo by its old name.

"It still think of it as the fair," said Dynel Matvia, 34, of Lehigh Acres. "But I'm glad it's still happening. ... I was kind of worried that there wasn't going to be a fair."

Matvia and her family always look forward to the event – whether it's called a fair or an expo. They love the rides and the tasty fair food.

"We do it every year," she said. "So it's tradition."

Visitors said they couldn't tell much difference, really, between the new and old events.  And that's by design.

Lee County leaders didn't want to make any sweeping changes with the popular annual fair, said Ag Expo spokeswoman Miriam Dotson, also communications coordinator for the Fort Myers Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau.

"It's all of the same fun stuff," Dotson said. "We want people who have come to this event in years past to know that the midway is there. Those rides are there. The amazing food. … All that fun stuff is still there."

Why the Lee County Fair has a new name

So why the name change? Blame Florida law.

According to Florida statute 616, an annual public fair, by definition, must be held and conducted by a fair association. So that was that.

"As the county is not a fair association," said Tim Engstrom, a Lee County spokesman, "it cannot call an event a 'fair.'"

The county government owns the Lee County Civic Center Complex, but the fair association managed the property and put on the fair every year for 99 years.

Peak said the fair association owns the name but was never asked by Lee County if the new event could use it.

"They don’t want anything identifying 99 years of our successful run with them," he said. "They want to have a whole new name, basically. You know, imitation is the greatest, sincerest form of flattery."

Even so, Peak said any bad feelings about Lee County taking over the event don't matter now. In fact, the fair association will still be giving out scholarships after the Ag Expo to children who exhibited plants and animals.

"It is what it is," Peak said. "We just had a board meeting last week, and we sincerely hope for the community that it's successful. Because that's what it's for anyway: It's for the community."

This would've been the 100th anniversary of the Southwest Florida and Lee County Fair. But county leaders consider the Ag Expo to be an all new-event.

So instead of the 100th-annual fair, it's the first Ag Expo.

As for the old Lee County Fair, fair association leaders don't have any immediate plans to bring back their own version of event, Peak said. The cost of property is a big consideration.

"It hasn't been ruled out," Peak said. "Our current situation is we're just monitoring to see what happens and we'll go from there. But we're still an association."

Taking over the Lee County Fair

It's been quite an undertaking to take over the Lee County Fair, said Ag Expo spokeswoman Dotson. But Lee County's various government departments, including Parks & Recreation, have been more than up to the task.

"It’s been amazing to see everybody pull together and just be able to pull it off without any problems at all, really," she said.

The new Ag Expo is being run by more than 300 Lee County government employees and paid for by tax dollars, instead of the nonprofit fair association and its volunteers. Peak said the fair association paid to put on the event itself every year.

According to organizers, the expo features 360 youth livestock exhibitors, 36 independent food vendors, 40 entertainment acts (including popular Southwest Florida bands Deb & The Dynamics, Pure Country and The Del Prados) and 890 Creative Living entries (the expo's new name for craft, culinary and horticulture exhibits competing in the expo).

Visitors might also notice about $1 million in repairs and upgrades made at the Lee County Civic Center Complex. That includes making the bathrooms compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, repaving some walkways, repainting and restriping the parking lot and adding more parking spaces.

Lee County Commissioners made the repairs after taking over operating the civic center and fairgrounds last year.

Ag Expo celebrates 4-H, Future Farmers of America kids

Another change − obvious from the new name − is a bigger emphasis on the agricultural side of things.

"Really, this event is built around those agriculture programs," Engstrom said. "And the rest is there to celebrate that."

Rebecca Ellis of Lehigh Acres said she's grateful the event is still happening. After the county and the fair association came to an impasse last year over a new contract, the association announced plans to cancel the fair. But then the county officially took over the event.

Ellis and her three kids exhibited goats Thursday at the Ag Expo. They're all part of Alva 4-H club The Wild Bunch.

"We're happy that the kids can continue to do it," she said. "They love doing it. It teaches them responsibility and how to take care of the animals. They have to clean their pens. They have to do all the work."

Her son, 8-year-old Brantley Ellis, was exhibiting his 112-pound goat Bamm-Bamm. He feeds and pets the goat after school and has been raising it for three years.

Brantley said he loves raising Bamm-Bamm. "It's really just an experience."

Kids in 4-H and Future Farmers of America programs raise animals and grow plants and produce all year long to prepare for the fair/expo. Then they compete for award ribbons and scholarships. The agricultural events often draw big crowds for the livestock judging and other events.

Bradley Smith, 34, of Lehigh Acres brought his two 4-H kids Thursday to exhibit their chickens.

Smith didn't like some of the changes this year, though. Since the county is running the event and not a nonprofit, he said, the kids have to pay taxes on any earnings more than $600. That includes money from selling the animals and prize winnings. They didn't have to do that before, he said.

"What I don't get is how are they going to tax a 7-year-old?" Smith said.

Still, he said he's glad the event is happening instead of getting canceled. Those agricultural programs are important.

"The kids enjoy it," he said. "It shows them responsibility and just makes them a better person."

More about the Southwest Florida Ag Expo

The Southwest Florida Ag Expo continues every night through March 10 at the Lee County Civic Center Complex.

And Lee County leaders hope people come out to the event and have a good time – no matter what they call it.

"People can pop out to the fair when they're able to, and they're gonna find good stuff going on," Engstrom said. "They're gonna find entertainment. … There's not a bad day at the expo."

Here’s what you need to know about this year's new Southwest Florida Ag Expo:

When: Now through Sunday, March 10.

Hours: Gates open at 4 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. weekends.

Where: Lee County Civic Center Complex, 11831 Bayshore Road, North Fort Myers

Admission: $10 admission ($5 for ages 4-11, free for younger). Rides cost extra. Various promotional nights are also available.

Ride tickets: Ride tickets are $3 for two tickets, $15 for 11, $25 for 22 or $55 for 55. For a list of discount and promotional nights, visit swflagexpo.com/pages/promotionalnights.

Info: swflagexpo.com

— Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. To reach him, call 239-335-0368 (for tickets to shows, call the venue) or email him at crunnells@gannett.com. Follow or message him on social media: Facebook (facebook.com/charles.runnells.7), X (formerly Twitter) (@charlesrunnells), Threads (@crunnells1) and Instagram (@crunnells1).

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Lee County Fair is now SWFL Ag Expo. All about the N. Fort Myers event