I mentioned the other day that this weekend the place to be is downtown Tampa, at Riverfest 2015.  You already know about the run, but that’s just one piece of the celebration!

There’s also the Bloody Mary Festival this Sunday May 3rd at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park from 11 – 3pm. general admission tickets get you unlimited samples from lots of local restaurants – and the opportunity to help decide whose is the best! You also get 1 full size drink with your ticket, so you can be certain about the choice you made. 🙂

All that AND music – check out Busted Blues:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seTRhrmWmp0?rel=0] I love listening to the Blues. Why yes, I do like most music. How can you not? Especially when it’s live.

Get your general admission or VIP tickets (all you an drink!) HERE.  Or you can enter to win a pair.  Just leave me a comment and enter here: a Rafflecopter giveaway.

Bloody Marys and the blues aren’t your thing?  Fine.  How about a carnival? How about games and rides like the Para Trooper, Carousel, Fun Slide, Orbiter, Swings or Star Screamer? How about kid friendly shows like magicians, story tellers, balloon artists and face painters? Like you have to be a kid to appreciate that. All that and a full bar and music too.

Ya, of course it sounds amazing. The urban carnival will be at Cotanchobee Park on the Tampa Riverwalk both Saturday and Sunday.  You can go the old fashioned route and buy tickets for the games and rides or you can purchase an all day ride pass here. 

Of course, you could just win a pair by leaving me a comment letting me know your favorite carnival ride and entering my drawing here: a Rafflecopter giveaway.

I’ll announce the winners Friday!

I received tickets to the tampa downtown carnival as a member of Tampa Bay Bloggers thru their partnership with the Big City Events in exchange for this giveaway. All opinions are my own, of course.

I received two VIP tickets to The Tampa Bay Rum Festival through a partnership with Tampa Bay Bloggers in exchange for writing a review. As always, my opinions are all mine.

I seem to have lost any ability to write in a semi-consistent matter, a lot of things have been happening lately concerning work and my personal life that have kept me a bit off centered.  Not all bad but not all good either.  At least I think my u.c. is in remission, they say there is always a bright side.

Anyways, that was my lead in (excuse) to why it took me two weeks to  let you know how the Tampa Summer of Rum Festival went. It was amazing.  I’ve been to other events put on by Big City Events but this was by far my favorite.  And I really liked the others. Follow them on Facebook to see what all they have coming up!

The festival was held at the The Cuban Club, which I’d never been to before.  The building was amazing in and of itself.  Because of the location there were the (really, really good) bands outside, lots of food buses and rum shacks, and also a whole big air conditioned inside to be in.  Inside there was a DJ, dance floor, and additional live entertainment.  I was in heaven; there were different types of music, food and rum everywhere.

On top of that as an add on to the VP ticket the rum tasting was included.  More music and a huge variety of rums to try.  Some where given in shots and others as mixed drinks.  My favorite was the Amber ‘Ti Punch with Clement Select Barrel rum.  The recipe is at the bottom of their page.  I would not have guessed the recipe, but that’s what the lady said I was drinking.  Who am I to argue? I haven’t tried making it myself yet but I without a doubt will.

Did you make it out to the Summer of Rum festival?  If you aren’t in Tampa are there festivals like this in your area?

Did you know there is a national Rum Day?  Well there is and it’s this coming Saturday, August the 16th.  Guess where I’m celebrating it?  At the Summer of Rum Festival!  If you’re anywhere near Tampa you should too.  Why you ask?  Because there’s going to be Rum Zones, Rum Shacks (small run zones) food trucks and also rum.  Good enough reasons for you??  Check the festival out here.

Even better is the fact that it’s going to be held at the Cuban Club which means it’s partly outside and partly inside (inside = air conditioning!). Also, the bands sound pretty awesome, there will be both ska and reggae!   Sounds pretty much perfect to me.

Check these guys out.

So, if you want to go you can get general admission tickets for $25, VIP for $95, or win a pair of GA tickets from me.  I have 2 pairs to give away, I’ll contact the winners on Friday morning. You do have to be 21 or older to get in, no kids and no pets allowed.

Enter to win here!  a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received two VIP tickets to The Tampa Bay Rum Festival in exchange for writing a review and this giveaway. As always, my opinions are all mine.

Don’t forget to follow them on Facebook for updates on the festival.

There’s a rumor going around that margaritas are Tampa’s drink of choice.  I have no idea if that’s true or not but I know if I had to pick a poison tequila is by far the tastiest!  Maybe it comes from spending so many weekends in Tijuana when I was younger or maybe it’s just that good, I don’t know.

Regardless, if you are also a fan you really need to join my out at the Tampa Bay Margarita Festival coming up Saturday, May 24th. There will be margaritas with Sauza (an old favorite of mine), Cabo Wabo (a favorite of everyone’s) and tons of other different tequilas. Bud Light’s Lime-A-Rita will be there and if you aren’t a tequila fan there’s Coronas and HRM Rex Goliath wine. And also, apparently there will be naked turtles there. Strange but true.

Of course they have to keep your designated driver happy too, so there will be lots of music and games and the evening will be topped off with fireworks. Los Lonely Boys will be headlining the show and there are plenty other bands starting after the gates open at 1:00.  I for one cannot resist sitting on the lawn listening to  live music, I can’t wait. Here’s a sample of one of the bands, Thomas Wynn & The Believers. Try and tell me this and a margarita isn’t the definition  of a perfect chill weekend.

The festival will be at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park and is being put on by the same people who did the Tampa Spring Beer Fling so I expect it will be a blast. Which is why you want to go too, right?  You can get your tickets here, they’re $15 now or $20 at the door for general admission or for $85 ($100 at the door) you can VIP it and your ticket will include all of your margaritas.  Sounds good to me!

What could be better?  How about winning a pair of general admission tickets? I have 2 pairs to give away, I’ll announce the winners here Tuesday the 20th.

Enter here: a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received two VIP tickets to The Tampa Bay Margarita Festival in exchange for writing a review and this giveaway. As always, my opinions are all mine.

So, will you be there?