Go Behind The Donuts Of Phish Baker’s Dozen Residency With Felicia Of Federal Donuts

Just hours before taking the stage for the first of 13 Baker’s Dozen performances at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Phish revealed a limited number of donuts from Philadelphia’s Federal Donuts would be given out to attendees as they entered the show. A different flavor would be shared each night and fans soon learned the flavor would be the evening’s theme as Phish played covers and originals referencing “Coconut,” the flavor of donuts from opening night. The trend continued throughout the weekend and is expected to continue through the end of the run. Longtime Phish fan Felicia of Federal Donuts shared the story behind her company’s collaboration with Phish on the latest installment of Helping Friendly Podcast.

HFP hosts RJ, Matt and Jonathan chat with Felicia about the Federal Donuts/Phish partnership and all the hard work that made the donut-giveaway a reality. Felicia revealed she owes the connection to Mark Welker, a Phish fan and executive pastry chef in New York City. Phish management reached out to Mark with the idea to give out donuts and he connected them with Federal Donuts. The Phish/Federal Donuts partnership has been in the works for two months according to Felicia. She talked about all the work her team has done/will do to pull off giving “thousands” of donuts to Phish fans each night.

Felicia said she received a list of flavors from the band. It was then on her and her team to come up with ideas on how to interpret the basic flavor ideas. “We are a very proud vendor but not so much a collaborator,” Felicia mentioned in response to fans giving the company credit for the setlist surprises each night. Federal Donuts is prepping all the donuts in Philadelphia early each morning and then they are being delivered to The Garden. The company’s chef is working all night to pull off the feat. Felicia also discussed how the donuts are being given out each night and many additional topics.

Listen to much more from Felicia of Federal Donuts:

Tonight’s flavor is “jam-filled,” which was announced after Sunday’s show, and has led to wild speculation about what will happen this evening. Helping Friendly Podcast has been providing extensive coverage of the entire tour. A live podcast recording will originate from NYC’s American Beauty, which is very close to MSG, on Saturday afternoon between 4 and 6 p.m.