The Sanibel-Captiva Chamber of Commerce announced the toll fee for the Sanibel Causeway will be lifted on Sunday, Sept. 17, Saturday, Sept. 23 and Sunday, Sept. 24 for the Island Hopper Songwriter Fest.
In collaboration with Lee County and the Tourist Development Council, Collaboratory will provide funds to waive bridge tolls as encouragement for locals to support island businesses and attend the Island Hopper Fest.
“Thousands of residents and visitors have enjoyed the Island Hopper Fest each year and it continues to grow and lift up our community,” said Tourist Development Council Chairman Brian Hamman. “Now in its ninth year, the songwriter fest just keeps getting better and we encourage everyone to take advantage of the ‘no tolls’ access and join your friends and family for great entertainment with Captiva as a beautiful backdrop.”
Island Hopper Songwriter Fest is a 10-day music festival in Southwest Florida featuring performances by the greatest BMI singer-songwriters from Nashville and nationwide. The festival is broken up into four locations with the first weekend kicking off on Captiva Island, then moving to Cape Coral and downtown Fort Myers during the week and ends with a weekend on Fort Myers Beach. Most shows are free with the exception of some ticketed experiences like the headliner show, songwriter cruise, and dinner.
“The county was instrumental in waiving tolls for six consecutive Sundays beginning in August and now this funding to waive tolls for the Songwriters Fest by Collaborartory will go a long way to help our Islands’ economic recovery,” said John Lai, the president and CEO of the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce. “We are very excited to see these types of partnerships to help our community continue to recover from Hurricane Ian.”
