BOK TOWER GARDENS – Discover the delicious world of tropical fruit at Bok Tower Gardens’ Fruit Festival July 12, 2025. Start your morning with excellent plant lectures by leading horticulture experts. The fun continues as you sip, sample, and delight in a bounty of fruits and gourmet dishes from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. The margarita bar will stay open as long as drinks are available.
During the Fruit Festival, purchase “Bok Bucks” and then sample gourmet small plates in the Magnolia Room, a variety of fresh, exotic tropical fruit in the Alexander Discovery Center, and more.
Fruit Fest lectures are included in general admission and are first come / first served. No registration is required.
Bok Bucks are required for small plates and samples. Bok Bucks are only available on the day of the event, for purchase at the Visitor Center and Alexander Discovery Center.
Chef Matt’s Celebration of Small Plates – all small plates are $4 Bok Bucks per serving.
Deluxe Tropical Fruit Cup
Enjoy fresh tropical fruit flavors dusted with Tajin (chili lime seasoning) and drizzled with Chamoy (spicy dried fruit and chili paste). This is a mix of sweet, tangy, and refreshing flavors in one cup!
Curried Shrimp over Coconut Jasmine Rice
Delicious fried shrimp topped with an island curry sauce, roasted chick peas and tomato chutney over fragrant jasmine coconut rice
Pork Tinga Poblano Tacos with Chorizo or Braised Jackfruit Tacos
Your choice of slowly simmered pork and chorizo sausage or Jackfruit in a fresh tomato broth with adobo and topped with a sweet mango salsa. Taco is served in a fresh corn tortilla.
Jerk Chicken Slider with Peach and Avocado Salsa
Zesty chicken thighs dusted with Caribbean Jerk Seasoning atop a Hawaiian roll and topped with Peach and Avocado Salsa and Jerk Aioli
Watermelon Salad
Fresh watermelon and cucumber with tangy feta cheese
Fruit Fest Margarita Bar fueled by Noble Micks – all margaritas are $7 Bok Bucks per serving
Mango Coconut Margarita
Passion Fruit Margarita
Watermelon Mint Margarita
Strawberry Margarita
Iced Tea and Lemonade – all tea and lemonade $2 Bok Bucks per serving
Freshly Brewed Passion Fruit Black Tea
Freshly Brewed Pineapple Turmeric Ginger Green Tea
Blackberry Lemonade
Fruit Fest Fruit Sampling – all Fruit Samples are $1 Bok Buck
Dragon Fruit
Mangos
Mamey
Sapodilla
Jack Fruit
Longans
Lychees
Schedule of Events
9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Horticulture Presentations in the Visitor Center Theatre
9:00 a.m.- 9:45 a.m. – Speaker: Josh Jamison from Cody Cove Farm – Fast-Growing Fruits for the Florida Home Garden
Learn about important fruiting species that thrive in many Florida home garden settings. Many woody fruit trees take five or more years to come into full production. Fortunately, some productive fruit species bear fruit within a year, which can fill the void of fruit while we wait for slower-growing trees to mature. These fast-bearing plants play an essential role in tropical agroecological farming around the world and can be of service to Floridians as well.
Josh owns Cody Cove Farm and Nursery in Babson Park, Florida, a small family farm specializing in unique edible crop genetics. The farm’s goal is to provide nutritious food to the community and promote sustainable agriculture through high-quality plants and produce. It focuses on collecting elite edible plant varieties from around the world and making them available to home gardeners, small farms, and beyond.
10:00 a.m.- 10:45 a.m. – Speaker: Taylor Walker – Growing Subtropical Fruits in Central Florida
The unique microclimate of the Lake Wales Ridge in central Florida allows for the growth of many subtropical fruit species that cannot grow in most other locations in the country. Bok Tower Gardens Horticulture Manager and fruit aficionado, Taylor Walker, will introduce you to some exciting fruiting species that can be grown here.
11:00 a.m.- 11:45 a.m. Speaker: Raleigh Barnes – Edible Landscape Design with Third Insight Design
Edible landscaping replaces strictly ornamental plants with plants that produce food. It allows you to create a multi-functional landscape that repays your investment of water, fertilizer, and time with food. Learn how to create an attractive landscape using colorful fruits and beautiful foliage.
Owners of Third Insight Design and Nursery, Raleigh Barnes and his wife Annie Jimenez, are lifelong gardeners whose organic principles stretch far beyond industry standards. They incorporate permaculture, organic gardening, native gardening, and agroforestry. Raleigh is the past Vice President of the Tampa Orchid club, a member of the Sarasota Bromeliad Society, and the Riverview Garden Club. As founder of the Apollo Beach Garden Club, along with many volunteers, Raleigh created a community forest garden at the Apollo Beach Recreation Center, where the club hosts their monthly meeting.
11 a.m. – 1 p.m. – The Caribbean Crew Steel Drum Band Live!
Blue Palmetto Café Terrace
Winner of 6 national awards for Top Steel Drum, The Caribbean Crew Steel Drum Band performs a variety of steel drum music, reggae, calypso, soca and dancehall. They also perform Top 40 hits, folk songs, Jimmy Buffet selections, and jazz standards. Come early for the beachy vibes and enjoy a delicious meal or beverage before the festival begins.
12 p.m. – 2 p.m. – Steel Drum Performers
During the festival, enjoy solo steel drum artists at the entrance to the Magnolia Room and Alexander Discovery Center.
Event Date & Time
Saturday, July 12, 2025
Price
Admission is free for members / $20 non-member adult, $10 kids (ages 6-17), Kids 5 and under are free
Sampling and Small Plates require Bok Bucks – only available on the day of the event, for purchase at the Visitor Center and Alexander Discovery Center
* The All Day Summer Brunch menu will not be available the weekends of June 13-15 and July 11-13.
