The Busch Gardens Tampa Food and Wine Festival is back for another year of savory eats, sweet treats, satisfying sips, and entertaining moments! This year’s event runs every weekend now through April 25, 2021. Here’s a quick overview of what’s on tap for this wild event. . .
Busch Gardens invited us out to check out this year’s event, which has been modified a bit to comply with current health and safety regulations. Admission to the Food & Wine Festival is included with regular park admission, with food and beverage available for purchase separately. Advance park reservations are also still required when visiting Busch Gardens.
This year’s menu offers more than 110 items, including 22 brand new dishes, and at least 80 different wines. Many favorites from past festivals are back, along with new twists on classic cuisines from around the country.
Once again, sampler lanyards are available for purchase in 5, 10, and 12 item options, as well as a 15 item option available exclusively for passholders (and discounts apply for passholders for all lanyard options). We really can’t stress this enough… invest in a lanyard! You’ll easily get more than your money’s worth when used for the more expensive items (save your cash for less expensive items and non-alcoholic beverages).
We visited on the first day of the festival (which was this past Saturday, February 20), and thanks to limited park capacity, while it was busy, it was also very manageable around the Food & Wine cabins. Never waited more than 5 minutes for any of the cabins we tried out.
The first item we tried was a returning favorite— the chicken biscuit slider with blackberry bourbon jam. The biscuit was buttery and delicious (but fell apart too easily), the chicken was nice and juicy, and the blackberry bourbon jam was perfection. We tried the stone fruit frosé (Beso Del Sol Sangria & fresh fruit) with it, and it was a refreshing delight!
Up next we tried the brisket pub chips, which was also quite tasty (who can say no to homemade potato chips?). We wanted to try the lobster mac & cheese, but sadly they had temporarily run out and were waiting to get more.
And of course, we had to end on a sweet note and got some beignets for dessert (a holdover from the park’s Mardi Gras event). This time only 2 options available (original and Woodford bourbon caramel-filled… no bananas foster this time). I went with the original and was instantly covered in powdered sugar! But it was worth it as they were soft, fresh and warm. We paired it with a frozen espresso martini (Absolut Vanilla Vodka, Kahlua, Chameleon Cold Brew Coffee), which was very good, but quite strong.
Besides lots of goodies to sip and nibble on, live music WILL be a part of this year’s Food and Wine Festival! Concerts will be held every weekend in March and April. Local acts will be featured at the Coke Canopy, while national acts will perform on the Festival Field stage. Physically distant seating will be available for guests at both locations.
Update 02/25: Busch Gardens has announced the concert lineup! To help maintain crows levels as seating is limited due to current health and safety guidelines, there will be two performances at 5:00pm and 7:00pm.
- March 6: Phillip Phillips
- March 13: Parmalee
- March 20: Dylan Scott
- March 27: .38 Special
- April 2: Sugar Ray
- April 3: Sister Hazel
- April 10: Locash
- April 17: Tito Nieves
- April 24: Starship featuring Mickey Thomas
Let’s take a look at some of the other food offerings at this year’s festival:
Let’s take a quick look around the rest of the park! Although capacity at the park is still being limited (we don’t know exact numbers as Busch Gardens does not release this information), wait times for rides were very long, even for a Saturday.
An opening date for Iron Gwazi has not been announced by the park yet (other than “Spring 2021”). We are SUPER excited to ride this bad boy though.
We spotted an Iron Gwazi merchandise cart across from the ride entrance. It wasn’t open yet, but it’s a sign that the ride may be opening soon!
The flamingos were enjoying the sunny Florida weather.
Kumba had a posted 90 minute wait time!
Scorpion didn’t have a posted wait time, but the line went just past the entrance to the queue.
Cobra’s Curse had a posted 120 minute wait time!
Posted wait time for Cheetah Hunt? 105 minutes!
When the coaster lines get long, visit the animals!
Back over by the Food & Wine area, they have a living statue performs several times a day.
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Let’s Hear From You
It’s always a good time at Busch Gardens for Food and Wine Festival. Did you see any foods that you’d like to try? Have you visited the park for their festival before? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
