Smoked gator, goat curry and rattlesnake gumbo, oh my! Beast Feast returning to Leesburg

Caroline Gaspich, Daily Commercial
·4 min read
A gator served up at Beast Feast in 2019.
A gator served up at Beast Feast in 2019.

LEESBURG — An annual all-you-can-eat feast featuring exotic meats is set for this week.

A fundraiser for the Leesburg Center for the Arts, Beast Feast 2022 "A Taste of Wild Florida" will go from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Friday under the the shady oaks of the Mote-Morris House. Tickets are on sale now for $35 or $45 at the door.

And the eclectic menu is set.

Beast Feast 2020: Beast Feast showcases exotic food for a cause

Discover Florida food festivals: Florida food fests: 15 flavorful events from the Panhandle to the Everglades

More on Leesburg's Center for the Arts: Unlock your kids' creativity at the Leesburg Center for the Arts

What's for dinner

This year’s feast features Florida favorites including:

  • Oysters

  • Smoked gator

  • Gator nuggets

  • Wild boar tacos

  • Rattlesnake gumbo

  • Frog legs

  • Quail

  • Goat Curry

  • Vension Chili

  • Fried Vension

  • Shrimp grits

Ladies from United Southern Bank shuck oysters at Beast Feast on Oct. 24, 2019.
Ladies from United Southern Bank shuck oysters at Beast Feast on Oct. 24, 2019.

Attendees can also enjoy Southern-styles sides including cornbread, fried okra, greens with pork, and mac and cheese. All of the food is being prepared by the Professional Firefighters Local Union and local businesses including The Brick & Barrel, Debbie’s Catering and Gourmet Today.

Don’t forget to save room for dessert. The Miss Leesburg Scholarship Program will also be coming out to the event with chocolatey s'mores.

“It’s a great way of trying out food, especially stuff you’re not used to eating. Most of it is coming from local hunters,” said Maria Stefanovic, Executive Director for Leesburg Center for the Arts. “I’ve been doing this event for a while now so I’ve pretty much tried everything, but my favorite is the gator and the quail.”

Food prepared at Beast Feast in 2019.
Food prepared at Beast Feast in 2019.

More than just a meal

There are going to be 15 tents set up at the festival. Several community businesses will be there serving, including Gator Harley, Covenant Roofing and United Southern Bank. Live music will be playing, too.

“It’s a really great evening of not just networking but mingling with people you may not see every day," Stefanovic said. "It’s a really great reflection of Leesburg.”

She's expecting a really good turnout this year. So far, the LCFA has already sold 350 tickets and they tend to sell about 50 or 60 more tickets last-minute.

Hundreds of people turned out for Beast Feast held at the Mote-Morris House on Oct. 27, 2016.
Hundreds of people turned out for Beast Feast held at the Mote-Morris House on Oct. 27, 2016.

Last year, the LCFA skipped the festival and the year before that, the event was held with COVID-19 precautions in place.

But now it's back with a new twist — all Florida foods.

“So this past year we took a pause and we kind of wanted to rebrand it and find a different time of the year to host it other than October. So we partnered with Sunrise Rotary,” Stefanovic said. “This year we partnered with them to kind of show them the ropes."

How your ticket helps

Sunrise Rotary will be taking over as the organizer for the event but the Leesburg Center for the Arts will still be the benefactor. All of the proceeds from Beast Feast will go towards funding children’s art programs.

“What we do is we provide just over 3,000 art opportunities for kids throughout the year. And we like to do that at minimal cost to the child and their family so this offsets a lot of the cost that makes this happen,” Stefanovic said.

She said this money helps goes towards art supplies, field trip expenses — anything that goes into putting an art class together.

Beast Feast will feed the masses on Friday, but event organizers are asking attendees to help feed the community, too.

“If you bring in a pound of non-perishable food you get a raffle ticket and we’re getting a really awesome basket of goodies," Stefanovic said. "And the food collected is going to go to the Joining Hands Ministries as part of the Sunset Rotary Food Drive that we are hosting April 2nd."

“Bring food. Win something. Eat something. Listen to something. It’s going to be a really fun night under the shady oaks at the Mote-Morris House. It’s a great way to make friends, get to know the community, and try some different meats."

Beast Feast 2022

Beast Feast 2022 "A Taste of Wild Florida" is set for Friday from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Mote-Morris House.

Tickets are on sale for $35 or $45 at the door. They can be purchased at leesburgarts.networkforgood.com/events/38186-beastfeast-2022. All children five and under eat free.

This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Gator, rattlesnake, wild boar, quail and more on the Beast Feast menu