WUSF Sells Out Annual ‘Longest Table’ Gala

 Last Thursday night on Bayshore Drive in St. Petersburg, more than 1,000 WUSF supporters raised a toast to WUSF Public Media.

The wildly successful “Longest Table” dinner has grown every year, and continues to sell out, becoming one of the most talked about fundraisers in the Tampa Bay area. 

Tickets were available to WUSF members first and sold out within just a couple of weeks. This year, WUSF capped the size of the event to 1,000 guests to fit comfortably along Bayshore Drive. The dinner stretched a full 400 yards between the Vinoy hotel and The Pier. Fifteen premiere restaurants from St. Petersburg, Tampa and Sarasota served guests an elegant, four-course dinner al fresco. 
 “We look forward to this event every year,” said WUSF General Manager JoAnn Urofsky “This is a wonderful opportunity to connect with our supporters, share a meal together, and celebrate the work at WUSF and WSMR. “The quality of the event combined with the caliber of guests continues to bring people from across our whole broadcast area.”

The Longest Table has grown into a major event for downtown St. Petersburg, closing Bayshore Drive to traffic for the evening, and becoming one of the largest food events like this anywhere in the Tampa Bay region. The Longest Table dinner is the latest in a series of successful events by WUSF to connect with listeners, including bringing a series of national radio shows to Tampa Bay for live events. 

In 2016, WUSF brought the show ‘Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!’ to the Straz Center for Performing Arts for a live performance, and tickets sold out within hours. The following year, WUSF brought ‘Snap Judgment’ to the Tampa Theatre, and last November, ‘Science Friday’, with both shows also selling out rapidly. The annual Longest Table fundraiser helps support these events and keep these programs on the air.  

Restaurants this year included some of the finest establishments in the region: 400 Beach Seafood & Tap House, Birch & Vine, Café L’Europe, Catering by the Family, FarmTable Cucina, Mattison’s, Modern Events, Orange Blossom Catering, Parkshore Grill, Perfect Thyme Catering, The Seafood Shack, Sophie’s at Saks Fifth Avenue, The Library, The Scout Guide Sarasota, URBAN Comfort.

Urofsky said special thanks go to all the WUSF staff who supported the event on site, as well as the event sponsors. They include Trenam Law, Imagine Museum, The UPS Store, Pinellas Community Foundation, University of South Florida St. Petersburg, in memory of Bill Brackett, Active Mobility Innovations, Bob Ziegler, Don and Kathy Vore, Harry and Joan McCreary, Kimberly and David Troyer, Mag 4 Inc., Duke Energy Center for the Arts at the Mahaffey Theater, Maxi-Blast Inc., R.R. Simmons, Tyrone Square Mazda, Kahwa Coffee Roasting, The City of St. Petersburg and Tampa Bay Magazine.

Next year’s Longest Table event is planned for April 16, so save the date. To become a sponsor for events such as these, please email Scot Kaufman at skaufman@wusf.org.