🌴 What's Happening in Naples September 28 - October 4

October shows up on Thursday, and Naples reacts the way it does every year: the parks reopen, the galleries hang new shows, and the calendar suddenly remembers it has weekends. This week has a supercar runway mile, a Million Dollar Quartet recreation at Artis, the New York Cosmos at FC Naples, Los Tigres del Norte at Hertz Arena, a half marathon before sunrise and the Zoo free for Collier residents all day Saturday. It is sorted by when you are actually awake, so skip straight to your part of the day.

We recommend confirming with event hosts for complete details and current schedules

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☀️ Early Birds

🏎️ Corsa Velocity Mile Runway Event
📅 Date: Saturday, October 3, 2026
⏰ Time: 8:00 AM
📍 Location: Naples, FL (runway location sent to registered drivers)
🏁 Details: A Corsa Rally event where drivers get a full mile of runway to see what their car really does, with sanctioned timing for anyone chasing a record, a DJ, food trucks and an awards ceremony. Drivers must be 21 and bring a helmet, gloves, a jacket and proof of insurance, so most of us are there to watch and wince at the tire bills.

🏆 8th Annual Fall Open
📅 Date: Saturday, October 3, 2026
⏰ Time: 7:00 AM
📍 Location: Tavern On The Bay Sports Bar & Grill, Naples
🍻 Details: Year eight of this one, and it is the most saved listing of the week with close to 200 people interested. The 7 AM start means an early Saturday, so check the event page for format and registration before you set the alarm.

🏃 Naples Rocktoberfest Half Marathon and 5K
📅 Date: Saturday, October 3, 2026
⏰ Time: 6:30 AM
📍 Location: North Collier Regional Park, 15000 Livingston Rd, Naples, FL 34109
🥇 Details: The 5K starts at $49 and the half at $109, and the finisher medals are big enough to need their own shelf. Early packet pickup is Friday from 4:30 to 6 PM at Restore Hyper Wellness, 6340 Naples Blvd.

👟 St. Agnes 5K Walk-Run for Life
📅 Date: Saturday, October 3, 2026
⏰ Time: 7:15 AM
📍 Location: St. Agnes Catholic Church, Naples, FL 34120
🥞 Details: $25 if you register by Friday, $30 day of, and that covers a t-shirt and breakfast in the Parish Center afterward. Walkers are welcome, and the money goes to pro-life causes.

🐦 Birding in the Garden
📅 Date: Monday, September 28, 2026
⏰ Time: 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM
📍 Location: Naples Botanical Garden, 4820 Bayshore Dr, Naples, FL 34112
🔭 Details: The Garden's birding volunteers walk you through the grounds and point out what you would have walked right past. Admission is $27 for adults and free for kids 17 and under.

📚 Threshing Day Launch Party at Books on Third
📅 Date: Tuesday, September 29, 2026
⏰ Time: 6:30 AM to 9:00 AM
📍 Location: Books on Third, 1300 Third St S, Naples, FL 34102
🐉 Details: The store opens at dawn for Rebecca Yarros' new book on release day, with early copies on sale while they last. If someone in your house has read Fourth Wing three times, this is their Tuesday.

🏛️ Wake Up Naples: A Legislative Look with Sen. Kathleen Passidomo
📅 Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2026
⏰ Time: 7:30 AM to 9:15 AM
📍 Location: Hilton Naples, 5111 Tamiami Trail N, Naples, FL 34103
🎙️ Details: The Greater Naples Chamber breakfast with Passidomo heading into her final Senate term. $55 for members, $65 for everyone else, $75 at the door, and online registration closes Tuesday at noon.

🧺 Third Street South Farmers Market
📅 Date: Saturday, October 3, 2026
⏰ Time: 7:30 AM to 11:30 AM
📍 Location: Neapolitan parking lot between Third St S and Gordon Dr, Naples
🍅 Details: Still in its summer spot until November, and still the best reason to be on Third Street before the shops open. Go early for the bread.

🥕 Vanderbilt Farmers Market
📅 Date: Saturday, October 3, 2026
⏰ Time: 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM
📍 Location: Galleria Shoppes at Vanderbilt, 2355 Vanderbilt Beach Rd, Naples, FL 34109
🍯 Details: North Naples' biggest market, with produce, seafood, honey and artisan tables. Easier parking than downtown and a shorter walk to coffee.

🌿 Pine Ridge Road Farmers Market
📅 Date: Sunday, October 4, 2026
⏰ Time: 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM
📍 Location: 3370 Pine Ridge Rd, Naples, FL 34105
🐕 Details: The Sunday option for produce, baked goods and crafts, and dogs are welcome. Good for anyone who slept through Saturday.

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👨‍👩‍👧 Bring the Kids

🦒 Free Saturday at Naples Zoo for Collier Residents
📅 Date: Saturday, October 3, 2026
⏰ Time: 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM, last entry 3:30 PM
📍 Location: Naples Zoo, 1590 Goodlette-Frank Rd, Naples, FL 34102
🎟️ Details: Every adult gets in free with ID showing a Collier address, or a utility or tax bill plus photo ID. Kids under 16 need to come with an adult, and the morning is the cool half of the day.

🎲 Retro Game Night at Mercato
📅 Date: Monday, September 28, 2026
⏰ Time: 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
📍 Location: The Piazza at Mercato, 9110 Strada Pl, Naples, FL 34108
🧩 Details: Free board games from Operation to Uno out on the Piazza for National Family Day. The rare Monday plan that works for a six year old and a grandparent at the same time.

🎉 Celebration Park Reopening Block Party
📅 Date: Thursday, October 1, 2026
⏰ Time: 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM, Vybe Shifters play 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
📍 Location: Celebration Park, 2880 Becca Ave, Naples, FL 34112
🌮 Details: The food truck park on Bayshore reopens after its September break with free admission, live music, giveaways and every truck back in line. AURA plays the same lawn Friday from 6 to 9 PM.

🐢 Watercolors and Wildlife: Sea Turtles
📅 Date: Thursday, October 1, 2026
⏰ Time: 9:30 AM
📍 Location: Rookery Bay Reserve Environmental Learning Center, 6050 Collier Blvd, Naples, FL 34114
🎨 Details: Paint a sea turtle and learn how the real ones use this coastline, on the day the center reopens after its maintenance closure. Registration is required, so sign up before you show up.

🐾 Story Time with a Veterinarian
📅 Date: Saturday, October 3, 2026
📍 Location: Golisano Children's Museum of Naples, 15080 Livingston Rd, Naples, FL 34109
📖 Details: A real vet reads to the kids and answers the questions they have been saving up about their dog. Check the museum's calendar for the time.

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🌆 After Work

🏍️ The Hangout by Two Guys Bike Night
📅 Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2026
⏰ Time: 6:30 PM
📍 Location: 2360 Pine Ridge Rd, Naples, FL 34109
🔧 Details: A small, easygoing midweek bike night on Pine Ridge, the kind where you park, walk the row and end up talking about someone's paint job for twenty minutes. No bike required to show up and look.

🖼️ Art After Hours: Set the Stage
📅 Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2026
⏰ Time: 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM
📍 Location: The Baker Museum, Artis-Naples, 5833 Pelican Bay Blvd, Naples, FL 34108
🪗 Details: Free admission to every exhibition in the building, with Tom Cimarusti on accordion and drinks at Heidi's Place. The best free evening in town, and the Magritte show alone is worth the trip.

🍽️ Sizzle Dining, Last Night
📅 Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2026
📍 Location: About 140 restaurants across Collier, Lee and Charlotte, including Mercato
💵 Details: The 10th year of prix fixe menus ends Wednesday, and $1 from every meal goes to Blessings in a Backpack. If you meant to try the one place you never got to, this is the night.

🎸 Mercato Nights with Phenomenal Animal
📅 Date: Thursday, October 1, 2026
⏰ Time: 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
📍 Location: The Piazza at Mercato, 9110 Strada Pl, Naples, FL 34108
🎶 Details: Free soul, funk, blues and classic rock on the Piazza, which means a folding chair and whatever you are carrying from the restaurant next door.

🍺 Hopetober Fest Pub Crawl
📅 Date: Thursday, October 1, 2026
⏰ Time: 5:00 PM
📍 Location: Starts at Ceremony Brewing, 10441 Packinghouse Ln, Bonita Springs, FL 34135
🇭🇹 Details: $75 gets you three stops, two of them kept secret until you get there, with a drink and raffle prizes at each. Every dollar goes to Hope for Haiti.

🧠 Trivia Night at Paddy Murphy's
📅 Date: Monday, September 28, 2026
⏰ Time: 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
📍 Location: Paddy Murphy's Irish Pub, 1089 N Collier Blvd, Marco Island, FL 34145
☘️ Details: Free to play and a Marco Island Monday tradition. The Oasis on Pine Ridge runs its own trivia Tuesday at 7:30 PM if you are north of the bridge.

🤠 Country Jam at Seed to Table
📅 Date: Sunday, October 4, 2026
⏰ Time: 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
📍 Location: Seed to Table, 4835 Immokalee Rd, Naples, FL 34110
🎻 Details: The first Sunday of every month, two sets, and you can shop for dinner between them. Out in Goodland, Crabby Lady has live music 1 to 5 PM the same afternoon.

🌙 Big Nights

🎹 One Night in Memphis
📅 Date: Saturday, October 3, 2026
⏰ Time: 7:30 PM
📍 Location: Hayes Hall, Artis-Naples, 5833 Pelican Bay Blvd, Naples, FL 34108
🎤 Details: A live band recreates the night of December 4, 1956, when Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash ended up jamming together at Sun Studio. About 90 minutes, and the piano player has to be very good.

⚽ FC Naples vs. New York Cosmos
📅 Date: Saturday, October 3, 2026
⏰ Time: 7:00 PM
📍 Location: Paradise Coast Sports Complex Stadium, 3940 City Gate Blvd N, Naples, FL 34117
🏟️ Details: A famous name in American soccer comes to City Gate for a USL League One match, streamed nationally. Resale seats have been running about $24 to $40.

🎺 Los Tigres del Norte: Los Tigres del Mundo Tour
📅 Date: Saturday, October 3, 2026
⏰ Time: Doors 6:30 PM, show 8:00 PM
📍 Location: Hertz Arena, 11000 Everblades Parkway, Estero, FL 33928
🪗 Details: The norteño legends make up their May date, right at the end of Hispanic Heritage Month. Tickets start at $53.84, parking is $30 and cashless.

🤣 Andy Gross at Off The Hook
📅 Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2026
⏰ Time: 7:00 PM
📍 Location: Off The Hook Comedy Club, 2500 Vanderbilt Beach Rd, Suite 1100, Naples, FL 34109
🪄 Details: Comedy, magic and ventriloquism from a guy with more than a billion views on his viral pranks and a special on Prime. Two item minimum.

🏝️ Vinny G at Off The Hook
📅 Date: Thursday, October 1 through Saturday, October 3, 2026
⏰ Time: Thursday 7:00 PM, Friday and Saturday 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM
📍 Location: Off The Hook Comedy Club, 2500 Vanderbilt Beach Rd, Suite 1100, Naples, FL 34109
🍝 Details: Vinny Guadagnino from Jersey Shore, now a Food Network host and the author of a keto cookbook, doing five shows over three nights. Tia Kemp from Zeus Network's The Aunties closes the club's week Sunday at 6 PM.

🎭 Dear Evan Hansen at Arts Bonita
📅 Date: Friday, October 2 through Sunday, October 11, 2026
⏰ Time: Opening night 7:00 PM
📍 Location: Hinman Auditorium, 10150 Bonita Beach Rd, Bonita Springs, FL 34135
🎟️ Details: The Tony winning musical from the Arts Bonita Actors Theatre, $15 to $35. Bring tissues and do not pretend you will not need them.

👻 Galaxy Fright Nights, Opening Weekend
📅 Date: Friday, October 2 and Saturday, October 3, 2026
📍 Location: Collier County Fairgrounds, 751 39th Ave NE, Naples, FL 34120
🤡 Details: Two haunted houses, Aliens vs. Clowns and Last Call to Hell, plus a not scary maze for the little ones and a laser show, all indoors with free parking. Runs every Friday and Saturday in October, so confirm hours on the site before you drive out to the Estates.

💃 Lomiiel: Abejita Tour USA 2026
📅 Date: Sunday, October 4, 2026
⏰ Time: 9:00 PM to 2:00 AM
📍 Location: Dimension Event Center, 2634 Tamiami Trail E, Naples, FL 34112
🔊 Details: The dembow and reggaeton star brings his tour to the East Trail, 18 and over. Sunday night, 2 AM finish, Monday is your problem.

🖼️ New on the Walls

🌺 Ánima Botánica Opens
📅 Date: Opens Thursday, October 1, 2026, runs through July 9, 2028
⏰ Time: 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
📍 Location: Naples Botanical Garden, near the Fogg Café, 4820 Bayshore Dr, Naples, FL 34112
🌱 Details: A new installation that will be around for almost two years, included with admission. Pair it with Stories of Air and Soil in Kapnick Hall, which closes October 25.

🎨 ¡Arte Viva! Fifth Anniversary Exhibit
📅 Date: Thursday, October 1 through Sunday, November 1, 2026
⏰ Time: Noon to 6:00 PM daily
📍 Location: Coco Art Gallery, Coastland Center, 1758 Tamiami Trail N, Naples, FL 34102
🖌️ Details: Collier's official Hispanic Heritage Month art show, now in its fifth year, and free. It sits inside the mall, so it counts as an errand.

🔮 Master of American Glass: Hayden Wilson
📅 Date: Friday, October 2 through Friday, October 16, 2026
⏰ Time: Monday to Saturday, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
📍 Location: East West Fine Art, Galleria Shoppes at Vanderbilt, 2359 Vanderbilt Beach Rd, Suite 410, Naples, FL 34109
💎 Details: Glass sculpture built with the murrine technique and carved on a diamond wheel, the kind of detail you have to lean in to believe. Two weeks only.

🏺 The Passion of Collecting at The Baker Museum
📅 Date: Through Sunday, November 1, 2026
⏰ Time: Tuesday to Saturday 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Sunday noon to 4:00 PM
📍 Location: The Baker Museum, 5833 Pelican Bay Blvd, Naples, FL 34108
🫖 Details: 74 works in glass and ceramics by 60 artists from the Sibrack Collection, alongside Magritte and the Chihuly Collection. Or see all of it free Wednesday night at Art After Hours.

🎀 Paint the Town Pink on Marco Island
📅 Date: All of October 2026
📍 Location: Across Marco Island
💗 Details: The sixth year of the island going pink for breast cancer awareness, run by the American Cancer Society and the Marco Chamber. Free, and you will notice it on every storefront.

⚠️ Please verify event details and availability with the respective venues or organizers, as schedules may change.

📰 What's Happening in Naples

🔗 Commissioners Approved a Private Golf Course on the Old Sabal Palm Road Citrus Grove
Collier commissioners voted unanimously on September 22 to let developer Jon Rubinton build an 18-hole private course on about 170 acres at 341 Sabal Palm Road beside Picayune Strand State Forest, though they denied the 10 guest cottages he asked for, and the Conservancy opposed the plan for pulling land out of the Rural Fringe sending lands.

🔗 Marco Delayed Its Vote on a Hilton Plan to Double Beachfront Rooms
After about three hours of testimony on September 22, Marco Island's council pushed to October a rezoning that would take the Hilton from 310 rooms to 626 with a second tower and a parking garage, and city staff, who say the plan conflicts with the comprehensive plan, agreed to work toward a compromise.

🔗 Naples Approved More Than $38 Million to Fix Flooding in River Park East
City Council backed $38.2 million to replace stormwater and wastewater lines, add permanent pump stations and raise roads in the historically Black neighborhood, where even ordinary afternoon storms flood streets and homes, with construction expected in 2027.

🔗 A County Study Wants an Overpass at Golden Gate Parkway and Livingston
The two-year study of the two miles between Airport Road and Santa Barbara Boulevard, where up to 57,000 vehicles a day pile up at Livingston and the I-75 interchange, recommends a Livingston overpass, interchange fixes and an extra eastbound lane.

🔗 Fecal Bacteria Closed the Water at Marco's Residents Beach for Two Days
A September 22 test by DOH-Collier found unhealthy enterococcus levels and triggered an advisory against any water activity, and a retest on September 24 came back clean, so the advisory has been lifted.

🔗 Mayor Teresa Heitmann Asked a Judge to End Her DUI Probation Early
Her September 11 motion says every condition and payment is done, even though a judge extended her probation to May 16, 2027 in July over a disputed marijuana test, and the hearing is set for 9 AM Tuesday, September 29.

🔗 A Naples Woman Is Among 20 Charged in the State's Noncitizen Voting Cases
Prosecutors say a 62-year-old Canadian permanent resident who has lived here since 1991 claimed citizenship to register in September 2024 and voted early that October, and she now faces charges of illegal voting and false swearing.

🔗 Police Arrested a 15-Year-Old Over a Shooting Threat at Freedom Institute
Naples police found no active threat at the private school on South Horseshoe Drive on September 22 but charged a student over a social media post threatening to kill everyone there, a second-degree felony.

🔗 A 67-Year-Old Motorcyclist Died in a Crash at the Elkcam Circle Turn on Marco
The rider, not wearing a helmet, turned left in front of a southbound pickup at North Collier Boulevard and East Elkcam Circle around 7:40 AM Friday, September 25, and died at Gulf Coast Medical Center.

🔗 Opera Naples' Ramon Tebar Made His Metropolitan Opera Debut
The Opera Naples artistic director conducted La bohème at the Met on September 25, the first of 13 performances running through October 31.

🔗 Five Naples Residents Made the 2026 Forbes 400
Jaguars owner Shahid Khan leads the local list at No. 70 with $16.5 billion, followed by Paychex founder Tom Golisano at $6.5 billion and Best Buy founder Richard Schulze at $5.1 billion, while Arthrex founder Reinhold Schmieding slid 47 spots.

🔗 A Senior Displaced by Ian Finally Has a Home Four Years Later
Robert O'Connor lost his house and car in the storm and spent four years in shelters before the Collier Homeless Coalition, which serves more than 450 clients, many of them over 55, found him permanent housing this week.

🔗 A $10,000 Grant Will Put Marco's Original Ferry Gears in the Museum
The Collier Community Foundation funded a Pioneer Era gallery display for two iron gears, about 400 pounds together, that raised the loading ramp on the ferry serving Marco from 1912 to 1938 and were pulled from the Marco River near the Snook Inn.

🔗 A Car Fire Briefly Shut Down the Jolley Bridge
A vehicle was fully engulfed at the top of the bridge on September 20, the driver got out safely, and Marco Island police reopened all lanes once crews cleared the scene.

🔗 Nine Homes on Lantern Lane Are Under a Boil Water Notice
A water main break put nine Naples homes on Lantern Lane under a precautionary boil notice, and residents with questions can call Collier County Public Utilities at 239-252-6245.