Talking Shop

The Walnut Foundry Event Center, 3002 Walnut Street, will host tonight's tasting, which starts at 6 p.m. and includes a silent auction. Proceeds from the auction benefit an AIWF scholarship fund that helps send Colorado residents to local culinary schools.

Calf-Baked
Mad Cow festival grips the Dairy Center
SAT, 8/21

The folks at Boulder's Dairy Center for the Arts are proud of the building's milk-bottling heritage, though it was long ago transformed into a multi-use venue occupied by fine artists, theater troupes and dance ensembles. Today's Mad Cow Arts Festival will pay tribute to the past while showcasing the building's active present. But why is the cow so mad? "We are the dairy, so we like using the cow and milk themes," Dairy spokeswoman Sarah Leversee explains. "And for this event, we decided to go with a circus/carnival kind of thing, a little wild and crazy. So our motto is: 'Catch the fever and go mad at the Dairy!' We wanted to give people an opportunity to buy art that is more affordable than the stuff that hangs in galleries, and to thank Boulder for being so good to us."

That won't be much of a challenge: Along with the core-event art sale, the fest will feature a bigtop full of free activities, particularly for kids, including belly dancing and hip-hop dance workshops, juggling performances, and mad-cow hat and found-object art projects.

Enjoy it all today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m at the Dairy, 2590 Walnut Street. Go to www.thedairy.org for details. -- Susan Froyd