The new splash pad at Banyan Tree Square is designed to spray water up to six feet during daytime play-fountain hours. For evening shows, its nozzles push water as high as 20 feet, set to music and lit in color from a combined array of 74 lights and nozzles. The show is synced with 54 lights in the banyan tree overhead and four more in a neighboring oak. Four 360-degree speakers around the edge carry the soundtrack.
The city built it at 27381 Old 41 Road and scheduled the ribbon cutting for Thursday, Oct. 29. For anyone in Bonita Bay, it's the newest reason to drive a few minutes north on a weeknight. It also says something about how downtown is changing this season. Bonita Springs itself is providing the evening reasons to come downtown: a choreographed fountain, plus a calendar of dated concerts and festivals at Riverside Park. The new private restaurant buildings along Old 41 are still about a year from their estimated finish.
What the Square Holds Now
The renovation covers more than the fountain. The property reopened in late October with new landscaping and pavement, shaded picnic tables, restrooms and uplighting around the banyan. At that point the splash pad itself was still behind a temporary fence, waiting for final approval.
According to the City of Bonita Springs announcement, the pad uses an integrated filtration and chlorination system "comparable to those found in community pools." The nozzles can run one at a time or in groups, and the RGBW lighting is controlled via DMX.
The first show was a 10-minute Halloween program written for the city's Happy Haunts stroll. It was scheduled nightly from Oct. 22 through Oct. 31, while inflatables, projections and animatronics filled the square, Riverside Park and the front of the historic Liles Hotel.
The Fountain's Regular Schedule Comes Next
So far the city has published the hardware and the Halloween program. It has not posted the fountain's regular calendar. Daily play-fountain hours, how often the evening show runs after the Halloween program, and whether a holiday program is planned have not been announced. For now, the most reliable way to check before a special trip is the city's main line, 239-949-6262, or the City of Bonita Springs website.
The holiday season is in a similar position. The city's holiday page still describes last year's program: a Holiday Stroll that ran Dec. 1, 2025 through Jan. 1, 2026, Holiday in the Park on Dec. 2 and a holiday Movies in the Park on Dec. 5. Dates for 2026 have not been posted. The fountain, with its lit banyan and programmable shows, looks built for that kind of program, but the city hasn't scheduled one yet.
The City Has Already Dated the Season Around It
The park next to the square is a different story. The city's 2026–2027 approved special events list already sets dates for December through April. Most of the events are at Riverside Park, a short walk from the fountain.
| Date | Event | Venue | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue., Dec. 8 | Stardust Memories Big Band | Riverside Park | 7 to 9 p.m. |
| Sat.–Sun., Dec. 12–13 | Kris Kringle Village | Liles Hotel | 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. |
| Sun., Dec. 13 | Bonita Springs Concert Band | Riverside Park | 6 to 8 p.m. |
| Thu., Dec. 24 | Christmas Eve Candle Light Service | Riverside Park | 6 to 8 p.m. |
| Jan. 9–10 | Center for the Arts Art Festival | Riverside Park | 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| Jan. 24 | Bonita Springs Concert Band | Riverside Park | 4 to 6 p.m. |
| Jan. 31 | Ukulele Fest | Riverside Park | 2 to 5 p.m. |
| Feb. 6–7 | Center for the Arts Art Festival | Riverside Park | 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| Feb. 23 | Stardust Memories Big Band | Riverside Park | 7 to 9 p.m. |
| March 6–7 | Center for the Arts Art Festival | Riverside Park | 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| March 9 and 23 | Stardust Memories Big Band | Riverside Park | 7 to 9 p.m. |
| March 14 | Bonita Springs Concert Band | Riverside Park | 4 to 6 p.m. |
| April 6 and 13 | Stardust Memories Big Band | Riverside Park | 7 to 9 p.m. |
| April 11 | Bonita Springs Concert Band | Riverside Park | 4 to 6 p.m. |
The Stardust Memories Big Band evenings are where the fountain fits most naturally. All six run 7 to 9 p.m. on Riverside Park's lawn, after dark during the winter months, a short walk from a lit banyan and a fountain designed for night shows. The Dec. 8 concert is the first chance this season to pair the two, if the city's regular fountain schedule includes that night.
The Band's Own Calendar Differs on Two Dates
Before you set out a lawn chair for the Bonita Springs Concert Band, check one detail. The city's list puts the band at Riverside Park on Feb. 14. The Bonita Springs Concert Band's own 2026–27 schedule lists Estero High School for that date. The band also lists a Nov. 8 concert at Estero High School that doesn't appear on the city's list at all. The two sources also give different concert times for Dec. 13, Jan. 24, Feb. 14 and April 11.
Both calendars agree on Riverside Park for Dec. 13, Jan. 24 and April 11. For the other dates, the band's own page is the one to check closer to the day, since the band is the group that has to show up.
Private Dining Downtown Is Still About a Year Out
Two new private projects on Old 41 will eventually add dinner options near the fountain, and neither is close to opening.
Project Telephone, at Old 41 and Hampton Street next to Downtown Coffee & Wine, will have two build-to-suit restaurant spaces of about 4,900 and just under 4,000 square feet. Vertical construction was underway in April, with completion estimated for mid-2027 and no operators named. HoneyHole Downtown, planned for 27459 Old 41 Road at Felts Avenue, is designed with dining, two bars, a stage for live music and retail space. Its completion was also estimated at mid-2027, and no operators or opening date had been announced.
That leaves this winter's nights to the places already open. Sugarshack Downtown at 27421 Old 41 Road, steps up the street from the square, offers free live music seven days a week. According to the Naples Daily News to-do list, it hosts Eddie Montgomery at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 11. Hide A Wai, a mojito bar in the former Imperial River Laundromat on Old 41, opened earlier this year serving fresh-sugarcane cocktails, rum made on site, coffee and light food. Its hours are worth confirming before you go.
For a concert that stays closer to Bonita Bay, the same Naples Daily News list has Here Come the Mummies at Arts Bonita, 10150 Bonita Beach Road, at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13.
Saturday Mornings Start Closer to Home
The city's list includes one weekly event that doesn't require going downtown at all. The Local Roots Flea Market runs every Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon at the Promenade at Bonita Bay, from Oct. 3, 2026 through May 29, 2027. It's the longest-running event on the season's calendar. For Bonita Bay, it's the one item on that list just down US 41 instead of up Old 41, and it runs every week of the season.
The fountain's regular show schedule is the next piece still to come. Until the city posts it, the City of Bonita Springs main line at 239-949-6262 is the place to ask.
Much of what makes a Bonita Springs address worth having comes from places like this, the spots close by that you can enjoy without planning a trip. If you're a Bonita Bay owner wondering how downtown's new evenings and the 2027 restaurant buildout might affect what buyers notice about the area, Adam Dearmond is happy to talk it through with you. Request your free home valuation, and we can start with the neighborhood as it stands this season.
