Busch Gardens Food and Wine Festival 2024 Williamsburg Guide

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Great news!  The Busch Gardens Food and Wine Festival is starting this weekend at Busch Gardens theme park in Williamsburg, Virginia!  This is one of my favorite events at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.  I love all the delicious foods and wine you can sample.  They have such a good variety of flavors from all over the world!  In fact, there are over 100 different dishes here!

The festival will begin on Thursday, April 25, 2024, and run through June 9, 2024.  In preparation of the event beginning, I want to give you a guide to what’s there for the 2024 Busch Gardens Food and Wine Festival.  Then I want to tell you how to save money on tickets to Busch Gardens!

Menus

So a big reason to attend this event is the delicious food and great drinks.  I want to tell you about each tasting location.

1. Virginia

Food

• Chesapeake Style Crab Cake Slider with Chesapeake Style Crab Cake, Micro Greens & Remoulade Sauce
• Bacon & Cheddar Hushpuppies with Cornmeal fritters & honey butter
• Apple Crisp with Oatmeal Crumble & Bacon Jam

Drinks

• Seyval Blanc (Lake Anna Winery)
• Sarah’s Patio Red (Chrysalis Vineyards)
• Honey Meade Lager (The St. George Brewing Co.)
• Taste for Thrills Lager (Alewerks Brewing Co.)
• Free Verse IPA (The Virginia Beer Co.)
• Duke of Clouds IPA (Three Notch’d Brewing Co.)
• Strawberry Lemonade with House-made Lemonade & Strawberries

2. Highland Spirits

Drinks

• Single Malt Scotch (Dalwhinnie Distillery)

  
• Peachwood American Single Malt (Copper Fox Distillery)
• Small Batch Bourbon (Four Roses Bourbon)
• Blackberry Bourbon Lemonade
  • Four Roses Bourbon, Blackberry & Pink Lemonade
• Irish Buck
  • Jameson Irish Whiskey, Basil & Honey
• Tasting Flight
  • Sample for Bourbon, Scotch & Whiskey

3. Africa

Food

• Peri Peri Chicken
  • Grilled Chicken Skewer, Chili Garlic Sauce & Coconut Rice
  • From Mozambique
• Bobotie
  • Beef Curry & Baked Egg Custard
  • From South Africa
•  Koshary
  • Blend of Pasta, Rice, Chickpeas, Lentils, Crispy Onions & Zesty Tomato Sauce
  • From Egypt
  • Plant-Based
• Melktert
  • Sweet Pastry Crust and Spiced Milk Custard
  • From South Africa
  • Vegetarian

Drinks

• Wine
  • Vinho Verde
• Raw Bar
  • Others Grenache, Department 66
• Cocktails
  • Amarula
    • South African Marula Cream Liqueur
• Non-Alcoholic Specialty Beverage
  • Nigerian Chapman
    • Fanta Orange, Sprite, Grenadine, Cucumber & Bitters

4. Hawaii

Food

• Loco Moco with Hamburger Patty, Sushi Rice, Fried Egg & Brown Gravy
• Spam Slider with Sriracha Mayonnaise, Roasted Pineapple & Macaroni Salad
• Kālua Pork Slider with pulled pork & pineapple on a sweet roll and pineapple coconut slaw
• Pineapple Coconut Mousse with sweet pineapple & toasted coconut

Drinks

• Big Wave Golden Ale (Kona Brewing Company)
• Frozen Blue Hawaiian with Tito’s vodka, coconut cream & pineapple
• Hibiscus Lemonade with resh lemonade & hibiscus flower
• Aloha Beaches with José Cuervo tequila, Malibu coconut rum & mojito
• Toucan Tropical Lager (Center of the Universe Brewing Company)
• Whispering Angel Rosé (Chateau d’Esclans)
• Riesling (Salmon Run)

5. Margaritas

Drinks

• Prickly Pear Margarita with José Cuervo tequila & prickly pear
• Frozen Lime Margarita with Jose Cuervo tequila & fresh lime
• Frozen Watermelon Margarita with Jose Cuervo tequila, lime, & watermelon
• Ambar (Dos Equis)
• Mango Cart Wheat (Golden Road Brewing)

6. Mexico

Food

• Crispy Shrimp Taco with sweet chili sauce, pico de gallo & cilantro lime slaw
• Shredded Beef Taco with Soy Shredded Beef, Marinated Citrus, Queso Fresca, Cilantro & Mango Salsa
• BBQ Pork Taco with BBQ Pork Carnitas, Pickled Onions & Queso Fresco
• Taco Trio
  • BBQ Pork Taco, Crispy Shrimp Taco & Shredded Beef Taco
• Sopapilla Cheesecake Bar
  • Cinnamon Sugar Pastry Dough & Sweet Cream Cheese

Drinks

• Horchata with Sweet rice milk, cinnamon & vanilla (non-alcoholic)

7. La Belle Wine Bar

There are over 25 wines you can choose from here.  You can use your Food & Wine Sampler to purchase these samples (we’ll tell you more about that later).

8. French Quarter

Foods

• Shrimp Étouffée with Creole-Spiced Shrimp Stew & Cajun Rice
• Bananas Foster Cheesecake with rum caramel sauce & sliced bananas
• Muffuletta with sliced mortadella, salami, ham, provolone, olive spread & cajun slaw
• Shrimp Salad Po’Boy with Creole-Spiced Shrimp Salad, Tomato & Lettuce
• Beignets with Puff Pastry, Powdered Sugar & Caramel

Drinks

• Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze® IPA (New Belgium Brewing)
• “The Big Easy” Red Blend (Fess Parker)
• German Shepheweizen (Wasserhund Brewing Co.)
• Frozen Hurricane with Bacardi rum & orange juice
• Gentil “Hugel” White Blend (Alsace)

9. Brazil

Food

• Churrasco with grilled beef & chimichurri sauce
• Linguiça with grilled sausage, portabella mushrooms & peppers
• Abacaxi with grilled pineapple & coconut caramel sauce
• Arroz Doce Cremoso with coconut rice pudding & cinnamon

Drinks

• Pedro Ximenez (Mayu)
• White Torrontes Blend (New Age)
• Mango Caipirinha with cachaça, mango & lime
• Brazilian Lemonade with frozen limeade & sweetened condensed milk (non-alcoholic)

10. Jamaica

Food

• Jamaican Patty with pastry crust, spicy beef & coconut jerk dip
• Gamba Fritters with shrimp dumplings & pickapeppa sauce
• Jerk Chicken Slider with mango salsa & cilantro lime slaw
• Toto Rum Cake with coconut cake & sweet rum sauce

Drinks

• Loose Cannon IPA (Heavy Seas Beer)

• Mango Wheat Ale (Three Notch’d Brewing)

• Blood Orange PHunk Sour (Cape Charles Brewing Co.)
• Blanc de Blanc Brut Cava (Anna de Codorniu)
• Rioja Reserva (Bodegas Muriel)
• Dark & Stormy with Myers dark rum, ginger & lime
• Frozen Jamaican Punch with Sailor Jerry spiced rum, Malibu coconut rum, lime, orange & pineapple juice
• Ginger Limeade with fresh ginger, brown sugar & lime juice (non-alcoholic)

You can read more about the Jamaica booth here.

11. BarKastle Spirits

Food

• Virginia Pimento Beer Cheese Dip
  • Bacon, Beer, Cheddar Cheese, Roasted Pepper & Crackers
• Bourbon Chocolate Tart
  • Rich Chocolate Ganache, Graham Cracker, Pecan & Whipped Cream
  • Vegetarian

Drinks

• Loch Ness Libation

  • Juarez Silver Tequila & Granny Smith Apple

• Spiced Rum Sangria
  • Calypso Spiced Rum & Red Wine
• Hibiscus Paloma
  • Hibiscus & Juarez Silver Tequila
• Cocojito
  • Bacardi® Rum & Malibu® Coconut Rum
• Kölsch 151
  • Blue Mountain Brewery
• Citrus Squall Golden Ale
  • Dogfish Head Craft Brewing Co.
• Caramel Macchiato Stout
  • Old Bust Head Brewing Co.
• Frogman Lager
  • The Bold Mariner Brewing Co.
• Bourbon Barrel-Aged Zinfandel
  • Buck Shack
• Bourbon Barrel-Aged Cabernet
  • Layer Cake

12. Herbal Infusion

Food

Drinks

• Pineapple Basil Lemonade with Tito’s Vodka
• Lavender Lemonade with fresh lemonade & lavender flowers
• Cucumber Basil Collins with Bombay Sapphire Gin & Citrus
• Green Goddess with Tito’s Vodka, Green Tea, Lime, Mint & Arugula

• Mandarin Basil Wine Spritzer with Orange Infused Moscato

13. Island Freeze

Food

Drinks

• Piña Colada with Bacardi Rum, Coconut Cream & Pineapple
• Loch Less Lemonade with Tito’s® Vodka & Midori Melon
• Electric Ocean Margarita with Juarez Silver Tequila, Pineapple & Lemon
• Bahama Mama with Bacardi Rum, Pineapple, Orange & Grenadine
• Strawberry Daiquiri with Bacardi Rum, Strawberry & Lime
• Bellini with Prosecco, Peach Schnapps & Peach Purée
• Wild Berry Seltzer from Truly Hard Seltzer
• Watermelon Heatwave Cider from Blake’s Hard Cider Co.
•  Kooks Orange Creamsicle IPA from Commonwealth Brewing Co.

14. OktoberTaps

Drinks

• Aussie Punch (Tito’s® vodka & strawberry)
• Green Tea Shooter (Jameson Irish Whiskey & peach schnapps
• Bayou Mule (Sailor Jerry spiced rum)
• Hibiscus Paloma (José Cuervo tequila & hibiscus)
• Craft brews like
  • Honey Brown Ale
  • Gorgeous Citra IPA
  • Strawberry Lime Cider

15. Sangria Garden

Food

• Sangria cupcake: berry & merlot cupcake with wine reduction buttercream

Drinks

• Pineapple Jalapeño Sake Sangria with Sake Wine, Pineapple Juice, Mint & Jalapeño
• Sweet Tea Sangria with moscato, sweet tea, peach & raspberry
• Cucumber Melon Sangria with Chardonnay, Melon Liquor & Fresh Cucumber

• Blood Orange Sangria with Rosé, Brandy Blood Orange & Strawberry

16. Italy

Food

• Maltagliati with house-made pasta, sun-dried tomatoes, basil pesto & olives
• Caprese with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, balsamic glaze & basil pesto
• Giant Meatball with marinara & shaved asiago cheese
• Lemon Ricotta Cake with lemon & ricotta and topped with toasted almonds

Drinks

• Monferrato Barbera (Scarpetta)
• Moscato (Zonin Primo Amore)

17. Turkey

Food

Concerts

Food and drinks aren’t the only special thing at this event!  There will be live local entertainment throughout the festival at the France Pavilion.

• The People Collection
  • April 27th
• Darcy Dawn
  • April 27th & May 5th
• Audacity Brass Band
  • April 28th, May 11th, 12th, 25th & June 8th
• Lane Rice
  • April 28th, May 11th, 26th, & June 9th
• Rob Oliver & The Attractors
  • May 4th & 5th
• Tyler Meacham
  • May 12th, June 1st, 2nd & 8th
• Drew Dunbar
  • May 18th
• Melissa Quinn Fox
  • May 19th
• Mango Thieves
  • May 19th
• Clayton Perry
  • May 25th
• Broke Royals
  • June 1st & 2nd

Busch Gardens Ticket Discounts

So about those discounted tickets!  We go over how to save money on tickets, as well as give you a full guide to the theme park, here.

Also, a great way to save money on the food and wine you have at the festival is with a Food & Beverage Sampler.  You can buy either a regular one, which gets you ten different menu items, or a Deluxe Food & Beverage Sampler, which gets you fifteen different menu items.  Click here to buy one of these samplers.