Chipotle Mexican Grill has announced the lineup for its 2013 Cultivate food, music, and ideas festival series, with events planned in San Francisco, Denver, and Chicago.
The one-day festivals all include cooking demonstrations by celebrity chefs, live music, local food artisans, regional beer and wines, a special Chipotle festival menu, and other activities emphasizing fresh and affordable food made with sustainable ingredients.
Cultivate San Francisco will be held on Saturday, June 8, in Golden Gate Park’s Hellman Hollow; Cultivate Denver is on Saturday, August 17, in City Park; and Cultivate Chicago is Saturday, September 7, in Lincoln Park.
Admission for all events is free.
“We are changing the way people think about and eat fast food, and part of that comes from helping people understand how food should be raised and prepared,” says Mark Crumpacker, chief marketing officer at Chipotle.
“These events allow us to educate people about how food can be raised responsibly by giving attendees the opportunity to interact with farmers, local artisans, and some of the country’s best chefs, all while enjoying some great live music and delicious food,” he adds.
In addition to live music and on-site chef demonstrations, each Cultivate event will include six interactive experiences focused on sustainable food, including experiences from the California Avocado Commission and Tabasco Brand Products, as well as a Kids’ Zone that will feature crafts and activities.
All three festivals will have an Artisans’ Hall offering a wide selection of local artisan-crafted food for sampling and purchase, along with a Brewers’ Hall serving local and specialty beers and wines.
New this year, Chipotle is partnering with a local brewer in each Cultivate city to create “Cultivate Farmhouse Ale,” a Saison-style beer that will be exclusively available at the festival.
In the spirit of healthful, sustainable food, Chipotle’s culinary team has also created a special menu of food that can be purchased at the festival.
Food offerings will include a grilled flatbread gordita; chicken and Sofritastacos; charred esquites salad; and a jasmine rice bowl with pork and chicken meatballs or organic tofu from ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen, Chipotle’s Asian concept.
To give customers a chance to attend one of the festivals regardless of where they live, Chipotle is partnering with IZZE Sparkling Juice to give away a trip for two to the Cultivate event of the winner’s choice in San Francisco, Denver, or Chicago.
The prize includes air transportation, hotel, ground transportation, spending money, and special event-day privileges at Cultivate.
To enter, fans can text “IZZE” to 888222 and reply OK. Entries must be received between Monday, April 8, and Wednesday, May 8.
Participants in the Cultivate San Francisco event include chefs Richard Blais (The Spence, HD1, and Flip Burger Boutique in Atlanta); Michael Chiarello (Bottega in Napa Valley, California, and Coqueta in San Francisco); Amanda Freitag (Food Network’s “Chopped” and “The Next Iron Chef”); Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo (Animal, Son of a Gun in Los Angeles) with Ludo Lefebvre (Trois Mec in Los Angeles); Bryan Petroff and Doug Quint of Big Gay Ice Cream (New York); Sarah and Evan Rich (Rich Table in San Francisco); Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen (San Francisco); Minh Tsai (Hodo Soy Beanery); and Nate Appleman and Joel Holland (Chipotle).
The musical lineup includes Mayer Hawthorne, The Walkmen, Walk the Moon, LP, and Matt Costa.
Cultivate Denver includes chefs Blais, Freitag, Appleman, and Holland, and adds Scott Parker (Table 6 in Denver) and Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson (Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, Colorado, and Pizzeria Locale in Denver and Boulder).
Musicians include Cold War Kids, Good Old War, and others to be announced.
Chicago’s festival includes chefs Lefebvre, Shook, Dotolo, Appleman, and Holland, and adds Carla Hall (ABC’s “The Chew”); Paul Kahan (Avec, Big Star, The Publican, and Publican Quality Meat in Chicago); Graham Elliot (Graham Elliot, Grahamwich, and Graham Elliot Bistro in Chicago); Jonathon Sawyer (The Greenhouse Tavern and Noodlecat in Cleveland, Ohio); Tony Mantuano (Terzo Piano and Spiaggia in Chicago); and Big Gay Ice Cream.
Bands will include Walk the Moon and others to be announced.
Chipotle’s inaugural Cultivate Festival was held in Chicago in 2011, with festivals in Chicago and Denver in 2012.
This year’s festivals are hosted with the support of other like-minded partners, including the California Avocado Commission, who represents California avocado growers; Tabasco Brand Products, the No. 1 hot sauce brand in the U.S.; IZZE Sparkling Juice; Southwest Airlines, the nation’s largest domestic carrier; Wüsthof premium cutlery; Earthbound Farm, America’s largest grower of organic produce; Nestlé Waters Regional Spring Water Brands, sourced only from carefully selected natural springs, Born Better; and Girasole Vineyards, a family-owned Mendocino County, California, winery committed to organic farming for more than 50 years.