Busch Gardens Food & Wine Festival 2025 – the many reasons why you don’t want to miss it!

Experience Foodie Paradise during Virginia’s Largest Spring Food & Wine Festival at Busch Gardens Williamsburg

This spring, new flavors and thrills are in bloom as Busch Gardens’ Food & Wine Festival on Thursdays through Sundays from April 24 – June 22, 2025 (as well as Memorial Day)!

This popular food festival returns to take guests on an unforgettable culinary adventure with over 150 international flavors. A complete menu of the Food & Wine Festival dishes and drinks can be found online at Busch Gardens Food & Wine Festival page. With 18 tasting locations and over 150 menu options, there will be something for every member of your family! This is a great opportunity to sample cuisine from around the world and we do mean cuisine – this is not your ordinary amusement park fare.

This year the Food & Wine Festival coincides with the parks 50th Anniversary and the opening of the newest roller coaster the Big Bad Wolf! While a date for the roller coaster has not been released it is expected this spring but for now back to the Food & Wine Festival.

The best way to sip and sample is with a Food & Wine Festival sampler lanyard. Guests can embark on their culinary journey and save 10 percent with a 10-sample lanyard or extend the savings up to 20 percent with the fan-favorite 15-sampler.

In addition to the Food & Wine festivities, beer and cocktail lovers raise your glasses! OktoberTaps (new in 2024) features Perfect Pour technology with twelve craft brews on tap. Margaritas offers 5 different margaritas including the all new Mango Margarita and Passion Fruit Margarita. The Sangria Garden features an array of specialty beverages, such as the all-new Sangria Gelatin and Classic Sangria, as well as returning favorites Blood Orange Sangria and Pineapple Jalapeño Sake Sangria.

Best Way to Visit and Ride – Busch Gardens Spring Sale

This popular food festival returns to take guests on an unforgettable culinary adventure with over 150 international flavors.

Admission to the festival is included with park admission, and individual tastings range in price.  If you have an Annual Membership make sure to present it when you purchase your food for a discount. You can also prepay for meal tickets – which will save you money.

Here is how the Food & Wine Festival works; 18 different kiosks are set up throughout Busch Gardens, each one is easily identified with the Food & Wine Festival logo and a four-sided billboard telling you about the country you are sampling from and interesting food facts. Large signs with that country’s menus are near each kiosk. Pick up a Food & Wine Festival Guide located at each participating country, these guides include a map of the park, locating each kiosk and it also includes menus for each country.

Try food and beverage items not normally served at the Williamsburg theme park!

Live Music

Enjoy live music and entertainment in France Plaza from local artists, Fridays through Sunday, April 26 through June 22. Artists will perform at France Plaza stage at 3 different times at each location during the day. Showtimes are at 12:30 pm, 3 pm and 5:30 pm at the France Plaza stage in France. Learn more about each performer.

April 26 – Tyler Meacham
April 27 – Manor Thieves
May 3 & 4 – Cinder Cat
May 10 – Melissa Quinn Fox Band
May 11 – Forest Hill
May 17 – Novakane
May 18 – Melissa Quinn Fox Band
May 24 – Lane Rice & Company
May 25 – Drew Dunbar
May 31 – Daughters
June 1 – Tyler Meacham
June 7 – Clayton Perry
June 8 – The Newport Grooves
June 14 – The Kids Table
June 15 – Rob Oliver Band
June 21 – Cinder Cat
June 22 – Mango Thieves

Taste of Busch Gardens:

There are many tasty reasons to come back week after week:

Here is a short run down including our favorite samples from 2025!

VIRGINIA
This is the first Kiosk you will come to once you enter the park, it is located near the Train Station and horse stables. The Jalapeño & Cheddar Hushpuppies were a big hit with the teens. The serving size was nice, they were moist with the perfect amount of spice. AND the Apple Crisp…if you can only get one item this might be it!! The oat and walnut topping with bacon bits is a fantastic combination… I mean jam, bacon, and sugar…you really can’t go wrong! The Strawberry Lemonade is tasty and a great non-alcoholic treat on a hot day if you have non-drinkers or kids with you.

HIGHLAND SPIRITS
Located near the Loch Ness Monster is the Highland Spirits Kiosk. Note this is one of the newer Kiosks from last year and is just for adults featuring Scotch, Bourbon & Whiskey drinks and tastings as well as cocktails! Cheers friends.

AFRICA
Africa is located across from Finnegan’s Flyer and offers a shaded seating area. The Peri Peri Chicken was so good with the chili garlic sauce! Don’t skip over the Koshary, I’m going to learn to make this at home, it was so good with a little spice, I might go a little lighter on the tomato sauce but otherwise it was one my favorites and vegan friendly!

HAWAII
Located in Ireland, next to Castle O’Sullivan. We sampled each of the beer and wine options but missed the Coconut & Macadamia Chocolate Tart (next time)!

MEXICO
Mexico is a great place to take a break – behind the Kiosk, there’s a shaded little oasis where you can escape the hustle of the park for a bit. Oh and the shredded beef taco is so good!!

POLAND – NEW!
Located in France across from the Royal Palace Theater (this used to be the French Quarter Kiosk). The Kolaczki cookies were SO Good and I was surprised by how big they were, you can definitely split these between two people. I wanted to take a dozen home with me! The Pierogies were really good too!

BRAZIL
Located in New France, next to the Trapper’s Smokehouse. We’ve heard wonderful things about the Brazilian Kiosk over the years! The Churrasco is a must, this is grilled beef with a chimichurri sauce. The Linguica (Brazilian sausage) is also worth a try. Also to note if you enjoy mixed drinks this is your opportunity to try the Mango Caipirinha, made with cachaca, mango & lime! (note: the Malbec is not on the menu this year)

BARKASTLE SPIRITS
Don’t be fooled by the name of this Kiosk there are more than just a Bar! BarKastle (located next to DarKoaster) has the absolute best chocolate dessert! The Bourbon Chocolate Tart was amazing!! If you are only going to sample a few items at the Food & Wine Festival put this on the list. This is a big statement but I will stand behind it. The Virginia Pimento Beer Cheese Dip was ok but honestly it probably wasn’t a fair fight up against the Chocolate Tart.

ITALY
If you have someone in your party that is looking for something filling the Giant Meatball is the perfect option!! The picture does not do the size of the meatball justice! I guesstimate it’s a 1/4 pounder stuffed with cheese. The Caprese salad was a nice fresh addition to the heavy meatball.

TURKEY
Located in Italy, near The Battering Ram. The Cuban Salatasl is so good and the perfect side for a warm spring day! We enjoyed the Simit and Ayran which was nice and refreshing.

ISLAND FREEZE
Located in Germany across from Verboten. They have draft beers, frozen cocktails and ciders. Both the Bellini and Bahama Mama were delicious!

Plant-based options (vegan friendly) are available in Africa and Island Freeze.

WINE TASTINGS
The park has 5 wine-tasting experiences and everyone receives a complimentary souvenir glass (Italy Gifts, La Belle Maison, Germany Gifts, Acadia Traders and Emerald Isle Gifts).

Now here are a few insider tips:

Admission to the festival is included with park admission, and individual tastings range in price. Food portions are generous sampling size so you can visit several countries. You can save a little cash if you choose to do a Food or Wine Sampler. 

Wine tasting is a fun addition to the Festival. If you like the wine and want to buy a bottle – you can buy right at the tasting. They will even uncork it so you can enjoy it around the par with your friends. They will put it in a gift bag (if it is a red) or you can purchase a cooler bag from a gift store and fill it with ice if it is a white. We saw many folks walking around with their newly purchased bottles and sharing them with their party.

Your kids will delight at The Art of Food – where food becomes art. In 2016 in Ireland Greg Butauski and his team made a turtle from a butternut squash!

I have to point out the utensil dispensers, I am in love with this concept and appreciate the cleanliness!! Yes, I realize this could be silly to include but it left such an impression on me that it has to be valuable information to others so there you go!

Need a ticket discount – check out our latest Busch Gardens & Water Country USA discounts post for all the coupon codes and special offers we can find – HERE

Cheers to another great Food & Wine Festival!

Visit here for more Busch Gardens events and check out our Daily Calendar too!