This week’s selection of Boulder County food events features three charitable events that benefit everything from cancer research to the Colorado River, and are only a few of the fundraisers going on in the state this summer.
COVER BANDS AND CRAFT BEERS
Leftapalooza, the annual event run by Longmont’s Left Hand Brewing Company, returns for the fifth year in a row on Saturday, August 1 from 12-10 p.m. at the brewery’s headquarters.
The annual event benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, as well as the Left Hand Brewing Foundation. To date, Leftapalooza has raised over $102,000 in cash donations to charity.
Leftapalooza is more of a music celebration than it is a festival for beer, though you can imagine Left Hand’s signature brews will be flowing throughout the festival grounds. Local food will also be available for purchase.
The main event of Leftapalooza is the Mile High Tribute Band Competition, which pits the nation’s best cover bands against one another for the right to play a show at the Fox Theatre. This year features bands covering the likes of Journey, the Allman Brothers, Styx, the B-52s, Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead and more.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for kids ages 5-12; everyone under 5 is free. For tickets or more information, visit www.lefthandbrewing.com.
RIVER DRINKING
New Belgium may not be in Boulder County but they do supply us with a lot of great beer, and this weekend they’re supporting a cause that matters to all of us: the Colorado River.
Like many groups across the state, the Fort Collins brewery is celebrating “Colorado River Day,” when almost 100 years to the day that the U.S. Congress gave the Colorado River its name. The day-long celebration honors the work New Belgium has done with groups like the Sonoran Institute and Save the Colorado to… save the Colorado.
Over the last eight years, New Belgium has contributed over $100,000 in support of restoring the Colorado River Delta.
The celebration will include films from Pete McBride, specials on Skinny Dip beer and talks from Colorado River experts.
For more information, visit www.savethecolorado.org.
GOOD CHEFS, GOOD CAUSE
The Post Brewing Co. in Lafayette is hosting Jack’s Benevolent Bash on Sunday, August 2, which benefits The Autism Society of Boulder County and the Jack Ferrigno Send a Kid to Camp Grant.
The Post’s Chef Brett Smith started the Jack Ferrigno grant in honor of his friend John Ferrigno, whose autistic son Jack passed away due to a seizure disorder when he was only eight years old. The fundraiser has brought in over $75,000 over the last three years, which has sent over 150 developmentally challenged kids to camps that specialize in providing fun, therapeutic and rewarding programs.
The Bash will run from 1-4 p.m. at the Koenig Center at the University of Colorado. Live music will be played throughout, and there will be raffle tickets offering trips to the U.S. Virigin Islands; Boston for a Kenny Chesney concert; and to Buena Vista for a three-day, two-person whitewater rafting trip.
Best of all are the chefs that will be cooking at the event: Hosea Rosenberg (Blackbelly Market), Justin Goerich (Zolo Grill), Jen Bush (Lucky’s Bake Shop), and several others from across the country.
Tickets are $100 and are available at www.autismboulder.org.
