In the Tampa Bay area, there’s never any shortage of things to do (particularly involving the food and drink scene). I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to check out the Busch Gardens Food and Wine Festival a few weekends ago, and it did not disappoint! Not only was the food delicious, but the selection was incredible. I had a tough time deciding which dishes to try, which wines and beers to taste, and what to take a picture of next. Between the variety of murals and the 13 food and drink “cabins,” the Food and Wine Festival village was totally gram worthy.

The festival runs every Saturday and Sunday through April 29th, so you still have a few weekends to check it out yourself! Oh, and in addition to the eats and treats, there’s a free concert each night on the weekends. We saw Boyz II Men while we were there, and I totally had a 90’s fangirl moment.

You’ll need to purchase a day or annual pass in order to access the park, and the goodies at the Food and Wine Festival are available to purchase a la carte or with a tasting pass (available in 5, 8 and 12 item options!) Between the boyfriend and I, we each had an 8 item pass and it was plenty for us for the day between food, drinks and dessert.

I’ve outlined a few of my favorite food tastings and which cabins to get them, but you can check out the full list of options online too.

Bison Slider on a Poppy Seed Roll with Bacon and Sriracha Ketchup from Southern Station

Pulled Pork Slider with Cherry Coke BBQ Sauce from Cooking with Coke Pavilion

Duck Taco with Sweet Chili Sauce, Slow Roasted, Asian Sweet Chili Sauce on a Corn Tortilla From Tasty Taqueria

Gochujang Ribs in Korean BBQ Sauce from Chef’s Plantation

Orange Fanta Whoopie Pie from Cooking with Coke Pavilion

Some additional honorable mentions that you should DEFINITELY try if you have the chance are the Short Rib & Brie Grilled Cheese on House-Made Brioche from Chef’s Plantation and the  Griddled Cheese Cake Sandwich with Raspberry Drizzle from Gourmet Lodge. These were accidentally taken bites out of before pictures even were taken, so yea they’re THAT good.

In between courses, we made sure to walk off some of the tastings by checking out the rest of the park. There are lots of animal exhibits, roller coasters and games to stay busy with. I get hungry again after like ten minutes, so we made multiple trips back to the Food and Wine Fest village and made a day of it! If you’re lucky you’ll run into one of these walking tree men and they’ll pretend to swallow you in a photo…

A few insider tips:

• Bring a pen so that you can check off which food items you’ve tried and circle the ones you want to try. There are over 35 food items, 65 wines and 50 craft beers available so if you’re anything like me, you’ll want to make a plan and take notes.
• The concerts are standing room only and the lines for food and drink get pretty long the closer it gets to show time. We got to the park around 2pm and had plenty of time to try everything we wanted and explore the park before coming back to the FWF village for the show.
• Since you can purchase everything a la carte, I decided to use my tasting pass mostly for food and a glass of wine (I had the 8 item pass) and purchased my own beer to drink while eating. More bang for your buck in my opinion!
• Prepare to do some walking, Busch Gardens is a BIG park!

Like I mentioned, there are two more weekends to check out the Food and Wine Festival at Busch Gardens before it’s all over until next year! Plus, the concerts this weekend are The All American Rejects and Cole Swindell (swoon) and next weekend Flo Rida plays Saturday and Kaleo and Bleachers (a few of my favorites) will be there next Sunday!

Be sure to follow along on @buschgardens Instagram page and the #corksandcoasters hashtag for more!

Happy tasting!

xx

Disclosure: The tickets to Busch Gardens and tasting lanyard for the Busch Gardens Food & Wine Festival were provided by Busch Gardens Tampa in exchange for writing this post and for social media coverage during the event. The opinions and photos featured here are solely my own.