Bush Gardens is once again hosting their fabulous Food and Wine festival Saturdays and Sundays March 4 through April 30. Come and uncork the flavor from noon to nine pm during this year’s extended nine weeks. There is so much to see, tastes, and explore throughout the entire Bush Gardens park.
Bush Gardens Food and Wine Festival is filled with tons of experiences from family friendly animal encounters, crafts, festival games, and live entertainment. Each one pairs with the culinary delights perfectly. Take your taste buds on a journey through wild flavors around the park. Tents and cabins are set up around Gwazi Park. Explore exotic flavors with thirteen food cabins, sixty-five fine wines, and seventy craft brews.
Food Cabins
The stops include the Gourmet Lodge that features a new mango shrimp ceviche and smoked beef brisket on a spiced corn waffle. Savory Tavern will please the palate with coconut shrimp cigars, goat cheese polenta cake topped with olives and tomatoes, and a cabernet wine filled chocolate truffle for dessert. Hearty flavors are waiting for you at Chef’s Plantation with pan seared salmon and Korean style ribs.
Classic Latin cuisine is celebrated at the Coast to Coast Cookery with Chimichurri hangar steak, all new vegetable arepas, and a flourless chocolate torte.
The Field House Eatery is the biggest location in the Festival. It serves up pan seared diver scallops and lamb chops. And new for the 2017 menu is the key lime berry parfait mousse. The Southern Station features venison meatloaf and bananas foster panna cotta. Comfort Kitchen has bacon mac and cheese, buffalo chicken mac and cheese and fuses with contemporary items like lobster ravioli and delicious tomato sauce.
Fresh items are on the menu at Light Fare Canteen, with options like lobster tart with spring asparagus and returning favorites like smoked chicken quinoa. A brand-new stop is Tasty Taqueria that puts a twist on classic taqueria with BBQ short rib tacos, Portobello mushroom taco, and sweet chili duck taco. Garden Gate Café brings back the tuna poke and a pheasant sausage flatbread. Sample shrimp and grits and a toy box tomato salad at Artisan Eats.
A one of a kind pavilion is the Cooking with Coke Pavilion where creations are inspired by Coca Cola. Try pulled pork sliders with Coca Cola Cherry BBQ sauce, baked Brie with Fanta Strawberry syrup and for dessert a Coca Cola infused pop rock cupcake. The marvelous food is only the beginning of the festival, enjoy everything offered by Bush Gardens Tampa.
Entertainment
Guests can walk through larger than life topiaries that celebrate spring. Each one is a living masterpiece, look at the works of arts to check out, including brand new ones added this year.
Darwin the Orangutan in Bird Gardens
Mugambi the Lion at the Park entrance
Topiarazzi in the front of gate plaza
Kanburi Pit Viber in Gwazi Plaza
Octopus’ Garden in the lagoon outside Garden Gate Café
Sea Turtles outside garden Gate Café
Elmo, Big Bird, and Oscar the Grouch on the Bird Gardens walkway
Live Entertainment
Bush Gardens Tampa combines the best of music genres from pop, soft rock, Latin, country, contemporary, and classic music with fabulous food. Concerts begin at seven pm and are included with daily admission. Headliners include:
DNCE- April 1
Walk off the Earth- April 2
Hunter Hayes- April 8
Daya and Matt Nathanson- April 9
The Band Perry- April 15
Newsboys- April 16
Gilberto Santa Rosa- April 22
Lynrd Skynyrd- April 23
Bachata Heightz, Justin Quiles, and Milly Quezada- April 29
Tribute Bands- April 30
Don’t miss a moment of the annual Bush Gardens Tampa Food and Wine Festival and let Tiffany Towncar provide your transportation to and from the event. Our service delivers excellence, comfort, luxury, and so much more. Choose from any of our late model Lincoln town cars, SUVs, and vans.