Tidbites | Week of March 5, 2015

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It seems a bevy of festivals are descending upon us. Here’s a look at a few upcoming food and drink related festivals in Boulder County and the greater Denver metro area.

COLLABORATION NATION 

Good beer comes from good beer makers. What makes great beer? One way is to put two good beer makers in a room together and see what happens.

In that spirit operates Collaboration Fest. On Saturday, March 21 from 3-7 p.m. at Sports Authority Field, more than 70 collaborative beer projects from across the country will be on display. Tickets start at $50.

Collaborations include those from Boulder County locals The Post, Twisted Pine, Upslope, Boulder Beer, West Flanders, Powder Keg and many more. Left Hand Brewing and Frisco’s Backcountry Brewery, for instance, have collaborated to make a chocolate rye weizenbock that will be available at the fest.

There’s more weekend festivities, though, as there will also be an immersion course on Thursday, March 19 from 6-8 p.m. hosted by Imbibe Events, the Colorado Brewers Guild and Metro State University in Denver. Scott Kerkmans, a brewer with Alaskan Brewing Co., will lead the class and the subject will focus on the beer making industry and how to foster connections. The class will be held at MSU Denver’s Hospitality Learning Center, Demonstration Theater Room 208. Tickets are $35.

Visit collaborationfest.com for more information and tickets.

OYSTERS GALORE 

The High West Oyster Fest returns to Boulder on Tuesday, March 10 at eTown Hall from 6-9 p.m.

The event, hosted by Jax, will include the 15th annual oyster eating competition and the third annual oyster shucking competition. Food and drink will be provided by Jax, including oysters (of course), shrimp, chicken and crawfish gumbo, jambalaya, spicy tuna poke and cured salmon.

Tickets are $50 and available at jaxfishouse.com. All proceeds benefit There With Care, which provides support to children and families facing serious illness, and an anonymous donor has agreed to match total donations and proceeds.

PIG CITY 

Cochon 555 is a three-day competition festival where the best chefs from the area prepare pig-based dishes to celebrate local farms, heritage-bred pigs and support local industry.

The event starts Friday, March 6 with a three-hour, five-course chef’s dinner at The Nickel in Denver, with guest chefs preparing the food and Cochon 555 founder Brady Lowe on hand.

Saturday brings a four-course meal at Colt & Gray in Denver-themed “Big Beef vs. Heritage Pig,” which sounds like a fight in which everybody wins.

The main event is Sunday, where five chefs each cook a pig, aiming to prepare the tastiest dishes and use the entirety of the animal. Participating chefs include Kelly Whitaker of Basta, Matt Vawter of Mercantile Dining & Provision, John Little of Harman’s Eat & Drink, Christopher Thompson of The Nickel and Rich Byers of the Corner Office.

The showdown will take place at the Ritz-Carlton in Denver, and begins at 5 p.m. Tickets are $125.

HOPS HANDRAILS BEER FEST & RAIL JAM 

On Saturday, March 28 from noon-5 p.m. at Roosevelt Park in Longmont, Left Hand Brewing is hosting a beer fest and snowboard competition.

The event features five hours of unlimited beer tasters from more than 50 breweries that came in from across the country, as well as a 40-foot-high snowboard ramp and rail jam competition.

Tickets are $30 for the festival and rail jam, or just $10 for the rail jam. For more information and to buy tickets, visit lefthandbrewing.com.

WINTER WARMERS 

The Winter Craft Beer Festival, brought to you by the folks at Hazel’s, will feature 17 Colorado breweries from 2-6 p.m. at the Coors Events Center in Boulder on March 7.

Participating breweries include Sanitas, Breckenridge Brewery, Tivoli, Fate and more. Tickets are $40 online at wintercraftbeerfestival.com, and $45 at the door.

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com