For many Miamians, summer doesn’t officially start until the mangoes hanging from every street corner are perfectly ripe. And nothing screams summertime in South Florida than standing underneath some swaying palm trees and taking a bite out of the tropical fruit while its juice runs down your chin.
Which is why now’s the perfect time to celebrate the city’s favorite fruit once again! As home to one of the largest mango collections in the world with more than 500 varieties grown on the Homestead Fairchild Farm, the Fairchild Botanic Garden has been hosting the Mango Festival for almost 30 years and it’s coming back this weekend from Saturday to Sunday, July 9-10.
Grab your favorite tote bag and get your tickets to the annual two-day event where you’ll be able to purchase all the produce you want, check out cooking demos and tastings, and get your hands on specialty mango beverages! We’re talking mango beer tasting from Cuba’s oldest brewery Cervecería La Tropical and mango smoothies prepared at the Mango Mania Bar located at the Philips Gate Courtyard.
You can even listen in on lectures about tree care and pruning, harvest and storage, propagation, cultivation, and much more. Click here for the times on their lecture series.
As if that’s not enough, you’ve heard of Sunday brunch mimosas, but how about mango cocktails? Sit in on their world-famous all-mango-inspired brunch on Sunday at 11 a.m. for an extra cost. It’s the perfect opportunity to meet some of South Florida’s top chefs like Chef Niven Patel who leads five local restaurants and Venezuelan chef, author, and TV personality Lorena Garcia, among others, while you savor their mouthwatering dishes. If it hasn’t been clear already, those dishes all incorporate mango in some way — pair your mango Bellini with a scallion pancake breakfast taco featuring sweet mango hoisin glaze and mango cornbread. Then top it all off with your choice of mango tres leches or a brûlée mango croissant.
The 83-acre Fairchild garden not only houses tropical plants year-round, but tons of exotic butterflies fly freely around its Wings of the Tropics Conservatory while 450 species of endangered plants live within their Rare Plant House. Fairchild gets its name from David Fairchild, a famous plant explorer, educator, and renowned scientist who retired to Miami in 1935 and brought the one-of-a-kind botanic garden to life three years later with the help of others in the community.
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is located at 10901 Old Cutler Rd, Coral Gables, FL 33156.