Swamp Radio Early Thanks Dinner
Join the cast of Swamp Radio, Northeast Florida’s beloved (and hilarious) live radio show, for an Early Thanksgiving celebration at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre. Early Thanks attendees will enjoy a down-home, three-course Southern Thanksgiving meal turned slightly on its head by notable St. Augustine chefs Stephen Dimare of The Hyppo Café and Terri Gamble of The Blue Hen Café, Ned Pollack of Ned’s Southside Kitchen and Mariah Salvat of Southern Roots Filling Station (Jacksonville) while dining under the trees in the St. Augustine Amphitheatre Pavilion. Dinner will be followed by an 80-minute Swamp Radio show which will celebrate the Ancient City in all its autumnal glory. Special musical guests include Duffy Bishop and the Unnamed Trio, singer Katherine Archer and percussionist Charlotte Mabrey. This will be a truly unique gathering of local storytellers, musicians and chefs for one unforgettable early Thanksgiving celebration!
This year’s Early Thanks menu includes an appetizer course featuring chicken and dumpling arancini and main courses of slow-smoked turkey with roasted garlic and sage, hand-crafted sausage with venison and a vegan-friendly option of Shepard’s Pie with mashed potatoes, veggie lentil filling and mushroom gravy. Sides include scalloped pineapple casserole, inverted sweet potato mash, tortellini salad, grilled pumpkin, grits with Gouda, cheddar and white chocolate and candied cornbread. Guests will also enjoy an array of desserts including cranberry cupcakes, pumpkin cheesecake squares with pepita and vegan dark chocolate coconut pies.
But the meal is only half of the fun! After dinner, guests will enjoy an entertaining combination of music, sketches, conversations and stories all centered around the November holiday. Irish storyteller Derek Coughlan will ponder the roots of Turkey Day with his usual mixture of cynicism, wit and wonder. Writer Kate Norton will profile Louisa Fatio – one of the original hosts of St. Augustine’s first Bed and Breakfasts. Co-host Tiffany Melanson will sit down with Phil McDaniel, owner of the St. Augustine Distillery to discuss what to look for in a good bourbon. The Retreads, Swamp Radio’s sketch comedy crew, will serve up some hilarious riffs on subjects as varied as the Turkey Giblet War of 2015, the proper way to prepare for a dysfunctional family gathering and a wacky walking ghost tour more unsettling than scary. Local writers of note (Laure Lee Smith, Ray Sharpe and Mark Woods) will deliver blessings throughout the evening, some comic, some outrageous and few wistful.
Date: November 19, 2016 6:00 PM-10:00 PM
Location: St. Augustine Amphitheatre | 1340C A1A S, St. Augustine, FL 32080 | 800-745-3000
Admission: $70 Early Bird tickets through November 11; $88 after November 11
Event website: swampradiojax.com
