For Immediate Release
Second annual culinary festival to feature Massimo Bottura, Raj Patel, Deb Eschmeyer and Alon Shaya and focus on “Food for Change” at workshops and free tastings throughout the weekend
New York, NY/Denver, CO (April 16, 2018) — Today, Slow Food USA announced the schedule and weekend event line-up for Slow Food Nations, a three-day culinary festival inspired by Italy’s famed Terra Madre Salone del Gusto, taking place in Denver for the second year on July 13 -15, 2018. The weekend attracts 25,000 people to downtown Denver and features more than 50 different free and ticketed food tastings, dinners, workshops, and family-friendly events devoted to sustainably-sourced food and drink, including Friday night’s Colorado Fare tasting event and the Taste Marketplace, a free open-air tasting pavilion and market. Tickets and complete schedule are available at slowfoodnations.org.
The weekend will bring together culinary luminaries and environmental thought-leaders for a mix of hands-on workshops and insightful panel discussions on important topics impacting the food system. Featured speakers include Massimo Bottura, Deb Eschmeyer, Daniela Ibarra-Howell, John Ikerd, Raj Patel, Steven Satterfield, Alon Shaya, Woody Tasch, Poppy Tooker, as well as Colorado local chefs Daniel Asher, Jennifer Jasinski, Sheila Lucero, Paul Reilly, Alex Seidel, Chris Starkus and Kelly Whitaker.
“Slow Food USA aims to inspire individuals and communities to change the world through food that is good, clean, and fair,” says Richard McCarthy, executive director of Slow Food USA. ““It’s really time to change the food system, which is responsible for great environmental damages and for a fifth of the emissions causing climate change. A real alternative is possible, and we want to show it at Slow Food Nations.”
McCarthy adds, “We are thrilled to return to Colorado for our second annual event as the state has so much energy and commitment around slow food.”
Slow Food Nations 2018 is presented by DanoneWave, Larimer Square and Visit Denver, with additional supporting partners.
Highlights of the weekend schedule include:
Friday, July 13:
The weekend will kick off with an opening dinner in Larimer Square, Colorado Fare, celebrating the best flavors from Colorado. Featuring Colorado ingredients, from the high country and the plains to the southwest deserts and the urban environments of the state’s major cities, the night will feature tastings from the state’s best chefs, artisanal brewers, distillers, cheesemakers and more. Tickets are $65.
Saturday, July 14th:
The centerpieces of weekend – Taste Marketplace and Eat Street – are open to the public and take place both Saturday and Sunday. Taste Marketplace is an open-air, free-entry marketplace that takes over the streets of downtown Denver. Visitors leisurely sample, shop, and meet the makers behind our food while engaging in experiences throughout the market. Eat Street is a weekend long pop-up bar and food court in Larimer Square aimed at slowing visitors down by getting a fork into one hand and a beverage into the other. Guests will be able to gather in the lounge and purchase craft beer and cocktails alongside tasty bites from featured chefs.
Saturday and Sunday will also feature ticketed workshops in various locations around Denver’s Larimer Square, including:
- A guided tasting of American honey paired with local cheeses and breads,
- Lesson on the ancient process of making traditional Mexican tortillas,
- Tasting of sustainably-sourced oysters from around the globe,
- An artisan salumi tasting, exploring importance of sourcing and the story of where your meat comes from.
- Cooking with heritage grains in your home kitchen
Simultaneously, there will be a series of summits, designed as a deep dive into the challenges and opportunities facing food in the 21st century:“The Buzz about Biodiversity,” “When Disaster Strikes,” “Farming for the Future,” and “Waste Not, Want Not.”
The day will wrap up with an evening tasting event, the Global Street Food Social, which will explore the most delectable artisanal street foods of the world presented with unlikely, but wildly delicious global drink pairings. Tickets are $65. Guests will roam Larimer Square from bite to bite.
Sunday, July 15th
The final day of the event will include more workshops, as well as another chance to wander the Taste Marketplace and Eat Street tasting pavilions.
The weekend wraps in true Slow Food fashion with a Zero Waste Family Meal served family style in a communal setting, using food waste captured at the festival. Tickets are $40.
For the complete schedule of events and to find more, visit slowfoodnations.org.
Visit slowfoodnations.org/media to access images of the event. Media pass applications are available now until June 15. Apply here.
About Slow Food:
Slow Food is a global grassroots organization that envisions a world in which all people can access and enjoy food that is good for them, good for those who grow it and good for the planet. Slow Food involves over a million activists, chefs, experts, youth, farmers, fishers and academics in over 160 countries. Among them, a network of around 100,000 Slow Food members are linked to 1,500 local chapters worldwide, including over 150 chapters across the United States. As part of the network, more than 2,400 Terra Madre food communities practice small-scale and sustainable production of quality food around the world.
Media Contact:
Lori Lefevre Wells
[email protected] or 914.630.0961
Anna Mulé
[email protected] or 718/260-8000 x152
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