With an endless parade of culinary festivals and cookouts throughout the summer, South Florida is filled with the pleasant scent of chargrilled fruit and salt-licked barbecued meats.
Our calendar is so full of activities that three of our favorite barbecue gatherings—the Annual Neighborhood Cookout: Smoke & Sunset, the Boca Burger Battle, and the South Florida Wing Bash—are all booked for the same day, July 12.
Other food-related events include the Palm Beach Jamaica Independence Festival (Aug. 2), the Saigon Night Market FoodieWorld (July 11–13), the Florida Mango Festival (June 29), the Vegan Block Party (July 5), and the Riverwalk Tacos & Tequila Festival (July 19).
Details about these eight parties that will expand your lips as much as your waistlines this summer are provided below.
Palm Beach County Convention Center, 650 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach, June 29 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. General admission is $15.39 to $24.50, while children under five enter free of charge. Visit FloridaMangoFestival.com.
If you possess a mango tree in the summer, you are familiar with the thump-thud-thuds on the ground and the conundrum that ensues: Should you race against the clock to devour them all or cinch the ripest ones in Publix shopping bags and give them away? During this indoor celebration, dozens of small farms and nurseries will be available to offer advice on how to care for your blooming harvest or plant new tropical trees. The event, which is the sole air-conditioned break from the summer heat in this roundup, will have talks for gardeners, an ID Your Mango booth, and guided mango tastings.
Esplanade Park, 400 SW Second St., Fort Lauderdale, July 5 from 3 to 9 p.m.; general admission $15.66 to $24.80, free for kids under 10;VeganBlockParty.com
With the other parties fighting for guests’ attention on the crowded summer schedule, they don’t have any beef, both literally and figuratively, but they do offer garden-style BBQ, with smoked seitan burgers, mushroom steaks, and plant-based wings. With live DJs, art exhibits, and bars as backdrops, more than 70 meatless vendors are set to serve BBQ, beverages, desserts, and other goodies. Only admittance is included in the ticket price, while some vendors may give away free samples. This is the only culinary festival that somehow incorporates exercise, with a free Badass race Club fun race, walk, and after-party scheduled for July 4 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Uncommon Path Brewing (710 NW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale).
Quiet Waters Park, 401 S. Powerline Road, Deerfield Beach, July 11–13, 2–10 p.m.; public admission $10–$12;Saigon Night Market’s Instagram account
With more than 100 vendors selling Korean barbecue, pho, ramen, bao buns, fiery hot dogs, sizzling beef skewers, and—you guessed it—fried squid on a stick, this international street-food festival, which is traveling throughout Florida throughout summer, will stop in Quiet Waters Park for three days. Discover an overwhelming variety of pan-Asian snacks and treats, like tanghulu (a Chinese treat made with molten sugar and skewered fresh fruit), mochi doughnuts, and ube pastries. Additionally, there will be artisanal goods, live music, cultural performances, pho-eating competitions with cash awards, and freebies. Entry is all that is included with general admission; meals can be purchased.
Sanborn Square Park, 72 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton, July 12 from 7 to 10 p.m.; public entry is $71.30, VIP admission is $91.88 (which includes early access at 6 p.m.); 561-338-7594; BocaBurgerBattle.com
Meat experts from South Florida restaurants, including Yard House, Lazy Dog, Won-Tom’s, Drift bar, and Sonrisa restaurant at the Boca Raton Marriott at Boca Center, Marco’s Top Burgers, Maggie McFly’s, American Social, The Cove Waterfront Restaurant + Tiki Bar, Lucky Fish Pompano, Santana’s Kitchen & Cocktails, and Sem Frescura Burgers & Fries, will square off at the 12th edition of this smoky throwdown. Additionally, ticket holders receive limitless alcohol, including wine, spirits, and beer from PROsperity Brewers, Hollywood Brewing Co., NOBO Brewing Co., and Barrel of Monks Brewing. The public can vote for a People’s Choice winner, and six celebrity judges will select the best burgers. Note that participants in the food may change at any time.
South County Regional Park, 20405 Amphitheater Circle, Boca Raton, July 12 from 7 to 10 p.m.; $59.99 to $300 (VIP packages include early entrance at 6 p.m.); SouthFloridaWingBash.com
Windy City Pizza, Brass Rooster Wing Factory, Cheffrey Eats (whom Sun Sentinel readers recently crowned South Florida stop food truck), and Hangry Joe’s Hot Chicken & Wings are among the nine (and growing) competitors vying for wing supremacy in this third annual chicken fight, which honors the many delectable poultry preparations. Yes, there will be judges and a blind tasting competition. When attendees have free time, they can vote for a People’s Choice winner while enjoying unlimited wings, unlimited beer and spirits, live music, and a gaming area with a golf simulator and ax-throwing bays.
Civil Society Brewing Co., 425 Kanuga Drive, West Palm Beach, 5:30–8 p.m., July 12; $35; EatTropical.com
This low-key barbecue with top-notch food evolved from Tropical Smokehouse and Celis Juice Bar’s mango sauce-sandwich marriage three years ago. In fact, it’s so low-key that it’s targeted at residents living south of downtown West Palm Beach along the Dixie Highway stretch, only has a capacity of around 200, and doesn’t start selling tickets until 10 a.m. on July 1—long enough to draw little attention. (However, the grassroots event has sold out for the second year in a row due to word of mouth.) Jason Lakow, a partner at Tropical Smokehouse, adds that even though the event is intended to be modest, anyone is welcome. With libations and delectable dishes from the cooks behind Cholo Soy Cocina, Zipitios, and Buccan Sandwich Shop, Tropical Smokehouse pitmaster Rick Mace will smoke a whole hog during the third edition of the cookout, which is being held at Civil Society Brewing, a larger venue. We’re essentially taking things that people enjoy and combining them because cooperation improves the area and makes the community happier, Lakow continues.
Esplanade Park, 400 SW Second St., Fort Lauderdale, July 19 from 2 to 6 p.m.; free admission; GoRiverwalk.com
Taco throwdowns are fun on any day, but in this heat, a real contest for tortilla supremacy is invigorating. Fortunately, birria, al pastor, carnitas, and carna asada handhelds from vendors including Emily’s Garden, Tulum Taco Shop, Heavenly Churros, EO’s Tacos, Pinky’s Tacos, and MozzArepas will be brought by the taco-heads in charge of fun on Fort Lauderdale’s Riverwalk. In addition, there will be lawn games, beer, premium tequila drinks, margaritas, and live DJ music at this third annual event. Although admission to the gate is free, food and beverages must be bought separately from vendors.
John Prince Park, 4759 S. Congress Ave., Lake Worth, August 2, noon–10 p.m.; $40–$80, free for children under 12;PBJamminFest.com
At this all-day celebration commemorating the 63rd anniversary of Jamaica’s independence from the United Kingdom, ticket holders may expect to experience a paradise of jerk. There will be a four-county domino tournament, a Palm Beach Cultural Queen Pageant, a crocus-bag relay, a virtual reality game tent, a kids-only area, and a celebrity jerk chicken cook-off competition. Of course, there will also be live performances by dancehall superstar Wayne Wonder, reggae fusion musician Da Ville, steel band group Chambah, reggae stalwarts Inner Circle, and gospel-reggae performer Brother Gary. Free finger snacks, drink samples, and VIP seating are all included with VIP credentials.
