Wazoo at Lowry Park Zoo

Named a Top 10 Beer Festival in America by USA Today, WaZoo, features samplings of more than 275 beers and beverages from around the world at Lowry Park Zoo. Amidst epic flooding in Tampa and many road closures, we armed ourselves with ponchos and managed to make it over here for a night of fun! This event went 7PM-​11PM but we only got here at 9PM. Surprisingly, there were so many vendors, we didn’t have enough time to hit up every vendor within 2 hours. That is a real testament to the size of this event! It kind of felt like Halloween Horror nights with a large dark park and cool led lighting. Unilocal gave away free ponchos which came in handy to visitors. I saw animal encounters advertised but wasn’t fortunate enough to see any animals. General Admission tickets sold for $ 70 pre-​sale and $ 80 day of included unlimited tastings 7 – 11 while VIP for $ 105 Presale and $ 115 day of included an extra hour of unlmited tastings and air-​conditioned VIP tent. Since this event was at night, I didn’t really think that VIP was worth the extra $ 40, so we just got the general admission tickets. Restaurants On Site included: Cigar City Brewpub, Grimaldi’s, Pizzeria, Pinchers, Beef O’ Brady’s, Skipper’s Smokehouse, Kona Grill, PJ Dolan’s Irish Pub, Topgolf Tampa, Papa John’s Pizza, James Joyce Irish Pub & Eatery, Graffiti Junktion, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, Kona Ice, Show-Me’s Sports Bar & Grill, and Yard of Ale. The food was a little disappointing. Many top notch vendors in attendance only brought their most basic bottom shelf items. I was disappointing Papa Johns only offered cheese pizza which was pretty basic /​bare bones for an event you have to pay $ 80 just to get in. There were great Live Performances By: Impulse World Beat, Mighty Mongo, Chris McCarty (VIP Area), Walker Smith Group, and Dropin Pickup. I’m surprised all the loud music didn’t scare the animals of the zoo too bad. Parking was pretty limited on-​site at Lowry Park Zoo. We had to circle around and wait for someone to leave to finally get a spot when we got there at 9PM.

Please notice that all the high star reviews are from 2014. The 2015 event was a disaster. It was raining so hard our street flooded and South Dale Mabry was closed at Henderson. The event went on anyway even with many people commenting on the wazoo Facebook page that it should be cancelled/​postponed. Those comments are mysteriously gone now.
No refunds so my advanced purchase tickets are just a donation to the zoo. Certainly a worthy cause, but forcing this event to take place was poor form in my opinion

So far just the Unilocal guy on the right turn out to be uncool. He was not very nice to my wife

Such a fun event, I think we will be going every year now!

Good food and beer! There were a lot of beer options, but not enough food… Although it was a beer festival food generally pairs well, amiright?

Awesome event. Tons of different breweries not enough food though more food vendors would be awesome. The food lines were the longest and they closed super early.
It was crazy hot so the fans that wob had were a life saver.
Can’t wait for next years event.

It was my first time at Wazoo & I will definitely be back! Overall, the event was a lot of fun but I would highly suggest the organizers hold the event in the non-​summer months. The heat was awful the first part of the night (plus, drinking warms you up!) & then the torrential downpour washed out the last hour of the night. That was a bummer! However, despite the weather woes & obnoxiously long lines (some booths ran out of food & drink quite early), it was still a good time for a good cause (proceeds from the event benefit the zoo). I am not a beer drinker so I was on the lookout for cider all night and was pleasantly surprised that many booths had cider options. Fave ciders of the night were: Cigar City watermelon cider, Two Henry’s Cider and Somersby cider (my new fave!) It was also a plus to be able to check in at the Unilocal booth for some swag (I grabbed up a lip balm)! The crowd was jovial, the music was good & everyone seemed to be having a good time. Overall, it was a fun event and I would definitely do it again.

What happened this year, wazoo?
This typically is a great annual event/​fundraiser and I’ve attended several years, but this year it did not live up to previous years and did not live up to the $ 100 VIP price.
Yes, the VIP area is in A/​C which is wonderful, but that’s where it ended. The smörgåsbord was boring this year, the beer selections where minimal at best with ridiculous lines and the live music wasn’t performing-​def not worth the extra $ 25.
The food selections outside and throughout the park were meh… nothing exciting this year.
I did get to sample some great beers, including CCB strawberry ale, but after a couple of hours, our group was ready to go.
I’m hoping zoofari will be better.

Wazoo is an annual fund raising event at Lowry Park Zoo as well as one of the top 10 beer festivals in the United States.
General Admission includes a Wazoo «tasting cup» to sample all of the beers, food sampling at the restaurant booths, encounters with the zoo animals, and live music. You can save on admission by purchasing your tickets in advance. For a VIP experience you can pay twice the price and have access to VIP seating, air conditioning, exclusive tastings, a glass tasting mug instead of the cheap plastic disposable cup and you get to enter the event an hour early. As much as I love A/​C I don’t really see the need to purchase the VIP tickets.
This year the beer selection was absolutely amazing! They offered over 100 beers from around the world including craft favorites from Tampa’s Cigar City Brewing. Some of the vendors were more generous with their pours than others. I always suggest making friends with the vendors, especially at the end of the night when they are trying to get rid of their excess beer. The pours become EXTREMELY generous at this point!
The event is always held in early August rain or shine and you can usually count on a few rain showers due to the hot and humid weather. The crowds for this event are huge so arrive early or be prepared to park outside of the park. Luckily, the event parking is very organized. Lines are long, especially for the food.
I wasn’t as impressed with this year’s food selection. This year’s vendors ranged from Papa John’s, Tijuana Flats, James Joyce Irish Pub, Kona Grill, Beef O’ Brady’s, Seabreeze Island Grill, The Pub, Fat Tortillas, BJ’s, Reilly’s Westshore Taphouse, Crabby Bill’s, Gaspar’s Grotto, Lime Fresh Mexican Grill, Hamburger Mary’s, Jerk Hut and Peabody’s. While that sounds like a vast selection most of the booths served casual bar food that wasn’t really impressive when you consider the prices for the event. The better food options had such long lines that it was impossible to get food without waiting twenty or more minutes in line.
Overall, I always have fun at Wazoo despite the hot and muggy weather, scattered rain showers, and huge crowds. If you enjoy sampling new beers this is the event for you!