The Inaugural Summer of Rum Fest was held at The Heights Waterfront in Downtown Tampa. The festival was a big hit for both rum enthusiasts and novices alike. The full-day event took on the life of a Jamaican street party littered with rum shacks in every direction, illuminated by thousands of cascading string lights. Bay Stage Lighting and Cheers Events created the perfect atmosphere with their décor.
Live music, which would be described as a mesh of Jamaican nightlife and Caribbean style rock n’roll, played throughout the event. We featured a Caribbean DJ inside and multiple live bands outside on the main stage. uDream Events professional bartenders and master mixologists created 12 different rum drinks, served at 10 different bar ‘shacks’ throughout the festival. There was a great mixture of classic rum drinks like pina-coladas and rum runners, as well as elaborate custom concoctions such as the “Miami Heat” that had the slight kick of a fresh sliced jalapeño.
Guest traveled from shack to shack testing the various libations. At the ‘Naked Turtle Shack’ guests sipped on a fruity and light “Naked on the Beach”. Crossing over to the ‘Cruzan Rum Shack’ where they could test out the “Cruzan 9 & Ginger Beer”, a nice pairing of sweet and spicy flavors. The ‘Daiquiri Deck’ had 9 frozen drink machines offering a variety of fruity-sweet iced cold cocktails. While the guest never allowed the rum to stop flowing, they also partook in fun festival games and food- Tampa Bay Food Track Rally provided an array of choices while guest worked up an appetite playing corn hole, dancing to the live music and even trying to hunt down pirates! Yes, I said PIRATES!
The Summer of Rum Fest served over 26,000 drinks. uDream Events was thrilled to team up with Big City Events for the sold out festival with over 4,500 guests in attendance. The day was a great success, helping to raise money for My Hope Chest.
We look forward to serving even more rum converts next year!
~ The uDream Events Team
