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Did you guys attend the Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Food & Wine Festival last weekend? Yes, the Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Food & Wine Festival is back!
The festival debuted on March 10, 2023, and it’s running through May 21, 2023. It takes place on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The festivities begin at 12:00 PM and runs until the park closes. Attendance is included in Busch Gardens theme park admission.
And it’s the best food and wine festival you’ll find in the Tampa Bay, Florida area. Not only does it have great food and wine, but there are also great concerts!
I’ll tell you about all of it. And then I’ll tell you how you can save money on a ticket!
Food & Drink
There will be marketplaces set up throughout the theme park where you’ll get to buy festival food and drinks. I’ll go over all the stations.
#1: Wines of the Americas
- Cono Sur Sauvignon Blanc (Chile)
- Rabble Zinfandel (California)
- Domaine Bousquet Red Blend (Argentina)
- Raeburn Chardonnay (Russian River Valley)
- Juggernaut Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley)
- Pam’s Unoaked Chardonnay (Sonoma)
- Natura Carmenere (Chile)
- Bodega Norton Malbec BS (Argentina)
- Alexander Valley Cabernet (Sonoma)
- McManis Petite Sirah (California)
- St. Hubert Red Blend “The Stag” (Paso Robles)
#2: Trek through Africa
- Vegetable Samosa with Peppadew-Tomato Chutney
- A flakey pastry filled with spiced potatoes, peas, and onions served with peppadew-tomato chutney
- African Vegetable Curry & Naan Bread
- Hearty vegetable stew filled with tomato, yellow squash, zucchini, red bell peppers, cauliflower, onion, and peas
#3: Vineyard Marketplace
Instead of food and wine in this marketplace, you can purchase artisan crafts, home décor, and souvenirs.
#4: Cocktails
- Dark & Stormy
- Spiced Rum, Craft Standard Mule Mix
- Serengeti Flyer Punch
- Bacardi Coconut Rum, Blanco Tequila, Melon Liqueur & Craft Standard Mojito Mix
- Aperol Loma
- Aperol & Craft Standard Paloma Mix
- Sake Smash
- Mandarin Vodka, Junmai Sake & Craft Standard Paloma Mix
- Twisted Lemonade
- Raspberry Vodka & Craft Standard Pink Lemonade Mix
#5: Artisan Treasures
This is another place where you can buy souvenirs, home decor, and artisan crafts.
#6: Twisted Egg Rolls
#7: Moroccan Market
- Berbere Spiced Chicken Batbout
- Chicken seasoned with paprika, garlic, fenugreek, allspice, chilis, ginger, coriander, cinnamon, & black pepper served on a Moroccan style pita bread
- Moroccan Couscous with Roasted Vegetables
- Tiny toasted pasta balls cooked in vegetable broth with roasted vegetables (beets, carrots, turnip, parsnip, cumin, garlic, cardamon, coriander & fresh cilantro)
#8: Greek Isles
- Stuffed Grape Leaves with Tzatziki Sauce (Gluten Free)
- A mixture of ground beef, cooked rice, herbs, and spices, all wrapped in a grape leaf and served with a Greek yogurt sauce made with garlic and cucumbers
- Lamb Lollipop with a Mint Demi-glaze (Gluten Free)
- Pan-seared and seasoned with Mediterranean spice & herbs
- Baklava (contains nuts)
- Layered pastry dessert made of filo pastry, filled with chopped nuts & sweetened with honey
#9: Dessert & Sweet Wines
- Lakeridge Winery & Vineyards Southern Red (Florida)
- Dogajolo Carpinto Rosso (Italy)
- Valckenberg Gewurztraminer (Germany)
- Massolino Moscato D’Asti (Germany)
- Massolino Moscato D’Asti (Piedmont)
- Island Grove Wine Company, Blueberry Moscato (Florida)
#10: European Delight
- Pierogies & Peas
- Potato-filled dumpling garnished with peas & caramelized onion puree
- Mushroom Ravioli with Truffle Cream Sauce
- A variety of wild mushrooms with ricotta cheese, garlic & shallots filled inside pasta and a creamy mushroom sauce with black truffle
- Tiramisu
- Coffee and Rum dipped Savoiardi cookies layered with a mixture of eggs and sweet mascarpone cheese and dusted with cocoa powder
#11: Creamery
- Peach Crumble & Vanilla Ice Cream
- Fresh baked peaches that are lightly sweetened & baked with a brown sugar crumble topping
- Macarons (contains nuts)
- Sweet meringue-based cookie with crunchy exterior & soft interior
#12: Asian Inspired
#13: Springs Taproom
- Tuna Poke
- Tuna poke is a traditional Hawaiian salad of raw tuna marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, and onions.
- Rotating Wine
- Farm to Table, Sauvignon Blanc (Australia)
- Farm to Table, Shiraz (Australia)
- Chateau Tanunda, Red Blend Grand Barossa Valley (Australia)
- 7 ounce Beer Sample, rotating beer:
- Samuel Adams Seasonal
- Stella Artois Lager
- Green Bench Postcard Pils
- Cycle Brewing
- Modelo Especial
- Keel Farms
- Golden Road Brewing Mango
- Founders All Day IPA
- Crooked Thumb
- Michelob Ultra
- Bud Light
#14: Old World Wines, Flights & Snacks
Here you can get flights of four pours each of 1.25 ounces.
- Flight #1
- Celeste Verdejo (Spain)
- Aveleda Vinho Verde Alvarinho (Portugal)
- Gabbiano Pinot Grigo (Italy)
- Miraval Cotes de Provence (France)
- Flight #2
- Bouchard Aine & Fils Beaujoulais-Villages (France)
- Zoe Red (Greece)
- Bulgariana Danubian Plain Pinot Noir (Bulgaria)
- Scarpette Barbera Del Monferrato (Piedmont)
- Flight #3
- Castello del Trebbio Superiore (Tuscany)
- Cellers Can Blau Red Blend (Spain)
- Villa Matilde, Aglianico Rocco Dei Leonia (Italy)
- L’Orangeraie Syrah (Pays d’ Oc)
There are also snacks:
- Smoked Almonds
- Creole Spice Snack Mix
#15: Xcursions
- Food & Wine Signature Cupcakes
- SheiKra Cupcake
- Iron Gwazi Cupcake
- Cheetah Hunt Cupcake
- Tigris Cupcake
#16: Food & Wine Marketplace
Here’s another station at the park where you can find souvenirs, artisan crafts, and home decor.
#17: Bourbon Tasting
- Old Forester 1870 Original Batch
- Old Forester 1897 Bottled in Bond
- Old Forester 1910 Old Fine Whiskey
- Old Forester 1920 Prohibition Style
#18: Latin Twist
- Chimichurri Beef Skewer (Gluten Free)
- Tender chunks of beef marinated and topped with oregano, parsley, garlic, and red wine vinegar
- Mojo Pork Taco
- Cuban-style pork roast marinated in a sauce made with the juice of sour oranges, garlic, oregano, cumin, and olive oil served in a taco shell with shredded cabbage and a tabasco cilantro mayo
- Pina Colada Trifle
- Vanilla cake, vanilla pudding, pineapple, coconut, whipped topping
#19: Cocktails & Beer
- Sparkling Greyhound
- Reyka Vodka & Craft Standard Paloma Mix
- Spicy Watermelon Margarita
- Ghost Tequila, Watermelon Monin & Craft Standard Margarita Mix
- Spiced Sangria
- Sailor Jerry’s Spiced Rum, Red Wine, Craft Standard Mule Mix
- Whiskey Smash
- Jim Beam & Craft Standard Mojito Mix
- Schofferhofer Grapefruit Hefeweizen Bier
- Terrapin Hopseutioner IPA
#20: Land & Sea
- Surf & Turf (Gluten Free)
- Oven-roasted beef, garlic, parsley, olive oil. Garnished with butter-poached lobster meat
- Watermelon Salad
- With feta cheese, baby arugula, vanilla vinaigrette
Food & Beverage Sampler
All those foods and drinks sound good to you? Then you really should consider purchasing a Food & Beverage Sampler! These have saved me money.
How it works is that you buy a food & beverage sampler for 10 or 15 items. Then you can use it throughout the festival (not just one day). You can save up to 50% by purchasing the sampler. Now, if you only buy a couple of items, it may not be worth it to you. But if you want to try multiple options, or you’ll be at the festival multiple days, then it makes sense to purchase the sampler. You can purchase the sampler here.
Please note that you can only have one single signature cupcake per Food & Beverage Sampler punch. While there is an option to try all four cupcakes with a cupcake, that four pack is not included with the sampler. So instead, if you want to try all four, it will count as four different punches.
Similarly, you can purchase tasting flight option for the bourbon tasting to try them all, but with the food & beverage sampler, each different Bourbon tasting option counts as one punch.
Concerts
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Food & Wine Festival’s concert lineup consists of a lot of different genres, from country music to pop to rock to Latin to R&B to classical music – and more!
These concerts are included in the cost of admission. But here’s a tip: if you really want to make sure you get a good seat for one or more of these concerts, then you really should consider purchasing a VIP Seating Package. That will get you exclusive seating for the concert. Plus you’ll get one free drink and access to a private VIP bar. You can book a VIP Seating Package here.
Here’s the schedule
- SWV
- Saturday, March 18, 2023, at 7:00 PM
- Dustin Lynch
- Sunday, March 19, 2023, at 6:00 PM
- Rodney Atkins
- Saturday, March 25, 2023, at 7:00 PM
- Flo Rida
- Sunday, March 26, 2023, at 6:00 PM
- Jeremy Camp
- Saturday, April 1, 2023, at 7:00 PM
- +LIVE+
- Saturday, April 8, 2023, at 7:00 PM
- The Fab Four (Beatles tribute)
- Sunday, April 9, 2023, at 6:00 PM
- 38 Special
- Saturday, April 15, 2023, at 7:00 PM
- Mitchell Tenpenny
- Sunday, April 16, 2023, at 6:00 PM
- Air Supply
- Saturday, April 22, 2023, at 7:00 PM
- Gabby Barrett
- Sunday, April 23, 2023, at 6:00 PM
- Hoobastank
- Saturday, April 29, 2023, at 7:00 PM
- WALK THE MOON
- Sunday, April 30, 2023, at 6:00 PM
- The Como La Flor Band (Selena Tribute Band)
- Friday, May 5, 2023, at 6:00 PM
- Celia Vive
- Saturday, May 6, 2023, at 7:00 PM
- El Gran Combo
- Sunday, May 7, 2023, at 6:00 PM
- Toño Rosario
- Saturday, May 13, 2023, at 7:00 PM
- Grupo Niche
- Sunday, May 14, 2023, at 6:00 PM
- Elvis Crespo
- Saturday, May 20, 2023, at 7:00 PM
- Luisito Ayala y la Puerto Rican Power
- Sunday, May 21, 2023, at 6:00 PM
Food & Wine Festival Guided Tour
Want a more VIP experience to the whole event? Then book a ticket for the Food & Wine Festival Guided Tour!
This is a VIP Guided group tour for up to ten guests per tour. It is a walking tour that can last up to three hours but is wheelchair accessible.
The tour also gets you bonuses like:
- Up to 5 food & drink items free
- Front of the line access to select popular roller coasters
- Reserved seating for the concerts
Discount Tickets
So as I said earlier, admission to the event is included in a park ticket to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. Which is great if you already have tickets to Busch Gardens. But if you don’t, luckily, there are a lot of great discounts going on right now if you book your ticket here.
