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The Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Food & Wine Festival is back, which for me is almost like a sign that spring is back! This year it will begin on March 7, 2025, and it’s running through May 18, 2025. It takes place on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. 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 cabins set up throughout the theme park where you’ll get to buy festival food and drinks. I’ll go over all the cabins.
Cabin #1 & #2: Jamaica
- Sautéed Jamaican Callaloo
- Braised Swiss chard
- Onions, garlic, red bell pepper
- Scotch bonnet
- Smoked Jerk Chicken
- Jerk-rubbed, slow-smoked chicken thighs
- Coconut-infused Caribbean rice
- Spicy mango salsa
- Caramelized Banana
- with Rum & Vanilla Ice Cream
- Gin Crush
- Margarita Keg, Gin & Triple Sec
- Spiced Rum Sangria
- Red Wine, Spiced Rum, Triple Sec & Mule Keg
- Blackberry Bramble
- Mojito Keg, Blackberry Brandy & Gin
- Strawberry Lemonade
- Vodka, Strawberry Monin & Pink Lemonade Keg
#4: Colombia
- Chicken Croquetas
- Chocolate Hazelnut Empanada
#5: Chile
- Local White Fish Ceviche
- Churrasco-Inspired Grilled Beef, Garlic-Cilantro Yucca
- Herb-marinated grilled flank steak
- Mashed yucca tossed with fresh cilantro & garlic
#6: New Zealand
- Venison Slider
- with Tomato Jam Chile
- Served with Homemade Potato Chips
#7: India
- Butter Chicken & Basmati Rice
- Chicken marinated with butter, curry, tomato, garlic & ginger
- Served with Basmati Rice
- Chickpea Masala & Basmati Rice
- Chickpeas, tomatoes, spices, garlic & tumeric
- Served with Basmati Rice
#8: Canada
- Nanaimo Bar
- A creamy custard layer tops a crispy layer of graham cracker crust
- With a coconut topping
#12: Spain
- Seafood Paella
- Saffron rice mixed with pimento peppers, garlic, spices, onion & peas
- Topped with scallops and shrimp
- With a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese
- Italian Margarita Craft Standard Cocktail:
- Tequila
- Triple Sec
- Amaretto
- Margarita Keg
- The Black Rose Craft Standard Cocktail:
- Gin
- Pink Lemonade Keg
- Blackberry Brandy
- Caipirinha Craft Standard Cocktail:
- Cachaca
- Mojito Keg
- Water
- Chai Elixer Craft Standard Cocktail:
- Vodka
- Vanilla Vodka
- Mule Keg
- Chai Monin
#13: France
- A toasted French baguette on the side
- Crêpes Suzette
- A crepe enhanced with Grand Marnier, orange juice & vanilla ice cream
#14: Italy
- Slow cooked in Marsala Wine
- With onions, garlic, beef demi & crispy polenta cake
- Rotini Puttanesca
- Deconstructed Tiramisu
#15: USA
#17: Old World Wines, Flights & Snacks
- Wines
- Rose Wines
- Red Wines
- White Wines
- Fell on Black Days
- Wild Rover Brewing Company
- A dark German lager
- In the Pines
- Wild Rover Brewing Company
- An East Coast IPA
- Dad Bod DIPA
- 3 Daughters Brewing
- Double Golden IPA
- Orange Wheat
- St. Pete Brewing Company
- An American-style wheat beer
Festival Field Bar
- Caramel Corn
- Cotton Candy
- Craft Beer on Tap
- Craft Standard Cocktails
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.
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.
Musical artists coming to Busch Gardens Tampa for the concerts include:
- Montgomery Gentry Featuring Eddie Montgomery:
- Friday, March 7, 8:00 PM
- Key Hits: “Roll With Me,” “If You Ever Stop Loving Me”
- Starship Ft. Mickey Thomas:
- Saturday, March 8, 7:00 PM
- Key Hits: “We Built This City”
- Sister Hazel:
- Friday, March 14, 8:00 PM
- Key Hit: “All for You”
- Flo Rida:
- Saturday, March 15, 7:00 PM
- Joe Nichols:
- Friday, March 21, 8:00 PM
- Key Hits: “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off,” “Gimmie That Girl,” “Sunny and 75”
- Luis Fonsi:
- Saturday, March 22, 7:00 PM
- Key Hit: “Despacito”
- The Commodores:
- Sunday, March 23, 6:00 PM
- Key Hits: “Lady, You Bring Me Up,” “Brick House”
- Easton Corbin & Matt Stell:
- Friday, March 28, 8:00 PM
- Easton Corbin key hits: “A Little More Country Than That” and “Roll With It.”
- Matt Stell key hits: “Prayed For You” and “Everywhere But On”
- Edwin McCain:
- Saturday, March 29, 7:00 PM
- Key Hits: “I’ll Be,” “I Could Not Ask For More”
- Soulja Boy & Paul Wall:
- Friday, April 4, 8:00 PM
- Soulja Boy key hits: “Crank That (Soulja Boy),” “Kiss Me Thru The Phone”
- Paul Wall key hits: “GRILLZ”
- Village People:
- Saturday, April 5, 7:00 PM
- Key Hits: “Y.M.C.A.,” “Macho Man”
- Michael Ray:
- Saturday, April 12, 7:00 PM
- Key hits: “Think a Little Less” and “Whiskey and Rain”
- Fuel & Lit:
- Sunday, April 13, 6:00 PM
- Lit key hits: “My Own Worst Enemy” and “Miserable”.
- Plain White T’s:
- Saturday, April 19, 7:00 PM
- Key Hit: “Hey There Delilah”
- Blackberry Smoke:
- Saturday, April 26, 7:00 PM
- Mitchell Tenpenny & Graham Barham:
- Sunday, April 27, 6:00 PM
- Mitchell Tenpenny key hits: “Drunk Me” and “Truth About You”.
- Graham Barham key hits: “Something to Chase” and “Lie to Me”
- Third Eye Blind:
- Saturday, May 3, 7:00 PM
- Robin Thicke:
- Sunday, May 4, 6:00 PM
- Key Hit: “Blurred Lines”
- Grand Funk Railroad:
- Saturday, May 10, 7:00 PM
- Key Hits: “We’re An American Band,” “Some Kind of Wonderful”
- To Be Announced:
- Sunday, May 11
- Hoobastank:
- Friday, May 16, 8:00PM
- Key Hit: “The Reason”
- Justin Moore:
- Saturday, May 17, 7:00PM
- Key Hits: “This Is My Dirt”, “You, Me, and Whiskey”
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
Food & Wine Festival VIP Package
Get the VIP Experience with the Food & Wine Festival VIP Package. It gets you the best seats for the concerts and a special entrance to the seating area.
You get one beverage certificate. You also get a a private bar experience!
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.