The first European explorers set sail with hopes of finding new, exotic spices to placate the palates of epicurious monarchs, but all they found were heaps of inedible gold. Pick up where they left off by broadening your mouth’s horizons with today’s GrouponLive deal: for $17, you get one admission to the Flavor Palm Beach kickoff party at the waterfront on Clematis Street on Friday, August 26, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. (a $35 value in advance or a $40 value at the door).

Food samples from Palm Beach County’s distinguished eateries fly around like so many bits of confetti at the kickoff to the fourth annual Flavor Palm Beach event, a celebration of munchies complete with live music, dance routines, and an ice-sculpture exhibit. Armed with ladles and spatulas, local vendors declare war on culinary blandness as they prepare for the month-long dining event with a mouth-bound assortment of creative dishes. Local residents and visiting gastronomes come together to greet the festival with a night of revelry headlined by String Theory, a quartet that spreads its love of mozzarella through a catalog of spot-on rock ‘n’ roll covers. Additionally, the Palm Beach Atlantic University dance troupe glides across the stage like frozen turkeys barreling down a bowling lane, dazzling crowds with a buffet of synchronized movements.

Between tastings and two-steps, guests can cool down at an ice-sculpture exhibit prepared by chefs who at one point have locked themselves in a freezer. Ticket sales benefit the American Red Cross, which provides relief for communities around the world and guests who manage to get their tongues stuck to the ice blocks.