Culinary celebration
Wednesday-Saturday. Denver’s restaurant scene continues to change, evolve and expand even as the industry faces challenges from all directions. So, it’s a good time to check out the Denver Food + Wine Festival, a heady, three-day affair that is also a major fundraiser for the Colorado Restaurant Association. Things kick off Wednesday with a wine glass seminar from Riedel that runs from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on the Auraria campus ($95). On Thursday, it’s the Shake + Brake Showdown from 6 to 9 p.m. This “friendly cocktail and food-truck competition” on the Tivoli Quad includes games, music and lots of trucks, like Maiz, Mukja, Simply Pizza, African Caribbean Palate, Happy Cones, and Radical Sasquatch Dumpling Co. ($85).
The main event, though, is the Grand Tasting, which runs from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29 on the Tivoli Quad, 1000 Larimer St. It includes a showcase of more than 50 restaurants offering all-you-can-eat small bites; new restaurants participating this year include Bella Colibri, Molotov Kitschen + Cocktails, Temaki Den, Cimera, Crafstman Brew Co., Joy Hill, Mother Other, Paperboy, Rougarou, and Welton Street Cafe. There are also mixologists and wine pros on hand with all the beverages you could desire. General admission tickets are $175 in advance. Visit denverfoodandwine.com/grand-tasting and events.humanitix.com for more.
Dragon tales
Saturday-Sunday: The vibrant Colorado Dragon Boat Festival makes its 26th annual appearance Aug. 29-30, bringing food, entertainment, AANHPI cultural displays and, of course, dragon boat races to Denver’s Sloan’s Lake. The races begin at 8 a.m. both days, while the festival itself runs 10 a.m.-7 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday. Food vendors include Rocky Mountain Momo, Ten Seconds Yunnan, Zoe Ma Ma, Mukja, Sweet Action Ice Cream, Tum Yumz, Cupbop, Onto Coffee and many more. Live music will appear on a stage both days, while two other stages will host dancing, performing arts, martial arts demonstrations and more.
A pair of warnings: It will likely be very hot and there is no on-site parking. However, there will be bicycle corrals at the park and shuttles going back and forth to the Auraria campus, where there is paid parking. Get more information at cdbf.org and look through the program at cdbf.org/festival-program-2026. Sloan’s Lake is located at 26th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard. cdbf.org.
Behold
Sunday. Most of us can’t afford to hang quality artwork on our walls. That’s for the rich. That is why the Affordable Arts Festival is so special. For the past 15 years, it has broken the mold, providing “a unique opportunity to acquire sought-after pieces by over 160 artists at highly discounted prices,” according to its founders.
“The works include both large and small, 3-D and 2-D, prints and originals, jewelry, glass art, fiber, leather, wood, photography, paintings and more, all created by professionals. Constantly ranked as one of the top five art shows in the country, it draws artist vendors from both Colorado and across the United States,” they added.
The festival takes place Aug. 30, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Arapahoe Community College, 5900 S. Santa Fe Drive in Littleton. Admission is $12, and tickets are available at affordableartsfestival.com and at the door.
Good folks
Sunday. The music never stops, and as proof of that, 90-year-old Harry Tuft, who founded the Denver Folklore Center music store in 1962, will release a new CD on Sunday in conjunction with a party at Swallow Hill Music. The recording, “Friends, Lovers & Other Strangers,” features a wide variety of folk-style songs sung by Tuft. It also highlights a host of friends and fellow musicians playing everything from steel guitar to accordion, harmonica, mandolin, and clarinet.
“The songs that Harry chose for the project are a true showcase of the music scene that he helped to cultivate here in Colorado in the 1960s through today,” according to the event’s planners. “All of them are important to him for their observations on humanity, love, and aging. Most were written by personal friends of Harry or by people who were regulars at the [store] and who are now household names — such as Bob Dylan and Buffy Sainte-Marie. The celebration begins at 2 p.m. at Swallow Hill, 71 E. Yale Ave., in Denver. For more information, go to swallowhillmusic.org.
