“Ding” Darling Days Conservation Carnival
Saturday, April 26, 2025

The 36th annual “Ding” Darling Days celebrates the birthday of the refuge’s namesake, father of the Federal Duck Stamp program and Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, Jay N. “Ding” Darling. This year’s family-centered event 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 include 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. Call or visit website for additional information.