My husband and I just returned from a trip wherein we got to experience the Busch Gardens Williamsburg Food and Wine Festival for the first time! So, I thought I would do a little guide to help others plan their visit.
Williamsburg Food and Wine
Every spring, the theme park hosts this annual festival. It claims to be the largest spring food and wine festival in the state of Virginia! I have no idea if that’s actually true, but this year it features 18 booths with 150 samples to try! Plus, they have special entertainment around the park! So, it certainly sounds impressive to me.
Similar to the Dollywood Seasonal Events, you can save money on food and beverages by purchasing a sampler card. However, since this one includes alcohol it’s a good bit more expensive. There’s the 10 item sampler for $70 and a 15 sampler for $85. You can use it over the course of multiple trips, but only on festival offerings. Upon seeing menus and prices, we opted to simply pay out of pocket for our items. We only purchased food and non-alcohol drinks, so it didn’t make sense to pay extra for the pass. Additionally, passholders receive a discount on food and beverages that made it even cheaper to pay out of pocket.
The Food and Drinks
I will start by saying that everything we tried at the festival was good. We purchased food from two booths: South Korea and Virginia. At the South Korea booth we got the Chicken Bulgogi, Korea BBQ Pork Ribs, and Dalgona Korean Coffee. I found the chicken to have a good flavor and was juicy. The pork rib was dry. The coffee was a disappointment. It tasted like a regular iced coffee to me. There was very little foam on top. It wasn’t bad, just not much different from a simple iced coffee.
At the Virginia booth, we got the Chesapeake Style Crab Cake Slider, Bacon & Cheddar Hushpuppies, and Strawberry Lemonades. I used the free festival item coupon passholders receive for each day of the festival for the crab cake slider. While it was a great use of the coupon, I would have been disappointed if we had spent $10 on it. It was tasty but really small.
The hushpuppies were really good. The bacon and cheddar gave them a unique taste. The addition of the honey butter elevated the dish. The hushpuppies were our favorite item of the festival. The strawberry lemonade was tart and refreshing. It was a moderately warm day, so it was a much appreciated cool beverage. Although, after several sips I tired of the bitterness. My husband ended up finishing mine as he really enjoyed it.
The Entertainment
The park also brings in some local artists to perform during the festival. It makes for a nice touch to walk around and enjoy some food while listening to music. I wish there were some big names as well or perhaps more entertainers spread throughout the park. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to enjoy the entertainment as they performed only a few times a day. I wish the park would bring in more entertainment options and spread the times out.
Is the Busch Gardens Williamsburg Food and Wine Festival worth it?
I think the food and drinks at the festival are good. I think it definitely adds something to your park day. The food made our visit to the park worth the trip over from Colonial Williamsburg. I appreciated the addition of non-alcoholic beverages to several of the menus as well.
Have you ever experienced this festival?
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