The Tastiest Food and Drink Events This Weekend — Plus a Monday Fundraiser

This weekend's food and drink events are oh-so-very Colorado: a gourmet picnic while watching a movie on a farm, urban foraging and cocktail classes (not at the same time, though an enterprising young person should probably take note). There are also two taco festivals in three days and an all-you-can-drink beer fundraiser. Plus, there's an adult summer camp courtesy of one of our favorite restaurants in town. Here are our food and drink picks for June 23 through June 25 — with a bonus event on Monday, June 26.

Friday, June 23
Colorado is where the luxe and the lowbrow are effortlessly combined; such is the case with the Boulder-based Blackbelly's Movie on the Farm. On Friday, June 23, Lone Hawk Farm, 10790 North 49th Street in Longmont, will host a screening of The Princess Bride. For $150 per couple, movie-goers will receive a picnic basket filled with two drink tickets, gourmet cheeses and house-cured meats from Blackbelly, gourmet olives, gourmet sandwiches and gourmet desserts (so, yeah — gourmet everything). But don't forget the camp chairs and bug repellent, as you'll be dining on the ground, in true Princess Bride style. Buy your tickets at squareup.com. The gates open at 7:30 p.m., and the greatest love story ever told kicks off at 8:30 p.m.

Palettes Contemporary Cuisine, 100 West 14th Avenue Parkway, is debuting a new prix fixe menu on Friday, June 23, in tandem with the Denver Art Museum's exhibit The Western: An Epic in Art and Film. While the show itself delves into gender roles, gun violence and race relations, Palettes' interpretation of the exhibit just delves into deliciousness, with dishes like Rocky Mountain trout with bacon-peach butter, short ribs with sunchoke mash and blueberry-barbecue jus, and bourbon-chocolate cake. The five-course menu is $35, and all dishes are available à la carte. You'll be able to get the Western-inspired fare through September 10, when the exhibit closes.

Saturday, June 24
Can't get rid of those dandelions that have blown over from your neighbor's yard into your own pristine expanse of turf? Keep your chin up, despondent landscaper: There's a use for those pesky greens after all. Find out about it at the Plants in Your Backyard: Wild Edibles and Medicinals class on Saturday, June 24, at the Ridge at 38 Four Seasons Outdoor Market. The free class runs from 10 a.m. to noon at the market, 7043 West 38th Avenue in Wheat Ridge. You'll have the rest of the day to forage in your back yard — and hopefully, you'll pull some plants that will ease your dismay about the persistence of life in your lawn.

We've written about the Way Back's Cocktail Curriculum before, and the series is nearly halfway done, running its fourth installment on Saturday, June 24, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. As a late Father's Day tribute, the class — titled When I Was Your Age...ed Whiskey — will educate and edify you about Scotch and whiskey. And it's not too late to sign up for this installment, or for future ones. You'll get three drinks and apps for $40 per class, or $140 for four classes. Meander on over to the Way Back's website for details, then call 720-728-8156 to get schooled.

If one night of unlimited tacos wasn't enough (after Thursday's Top Taco throwdown), this weekend brings two more nights of Mexican street food, at the Denver Taco Fest on Saturday, June 24, and Sunday, June 25. This event promises lucha libre wrestling, Chihuahua racing, live game shows and plenty of music — oh, and tacos and tequila, of course! The fun runs from noon to 8 p.m. both days at The Compound, 725 West 39th Avenue, and tickets start at just $5 for general admission, though tacos aren't included; those will run you $2 a pop. For $20, you'll get admission to Mexico in a Bottle, a special tasting area with Mexican craft beers, tequila and other agave spirits. Find out more and purchase tickets at denvertacofestival.com.

Returning to downtown Longmont for the second year, the Colorado Latino Festival highlights the vibrancy of Latino culture along Main Street in one of Colorado's most diverse cities. A partnership of the Latino Chamber of Commerce and Longmont's Barrio E Cultural Center, the festival gets going at noon on Sunday, June 25, and winds down around 7 p.m. Throughout the festive day, visitors can enjoy live entertainment from more than forty musicians and cultural performers, peruse the shelves of vendors lining Main Street and sample culinary highlights, all while gathering in a fun-loving, multicultural, coalition-building environment. Admission is free and open to the public; last year's inaugural festival welcomed some 7,000 guests. Learn more at festivalcolorado.com.

If good wood is your thing, Stranahan's Cask Thief Whiskey Tasting might be the event for you. From 5 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, June 24, rare aged casks will be dredged from the depths of Stranahan's Colorado Distillery cellars and presented to the public for the first time. In addition to six exclusive tastings, guests can expect a pig roast using house barrel staves, chocolates and truffles from DAR Chocolate, live music and a barrel-making demo, all for $65. The event will take place at the distillery tasting room, 208 South Kalamath Street; get your tickets before they sell out at xorbia.com.

Alpine Brewing, 1505 Ogden Street, is converting its storefront to roll-up garage doors to help welcome summer days into the brewery taproom. That means a kickoff party starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 24, with small-batch releases of Wild Brett IPA (1 p.m.), a firkin of Watermelon Blonde (3 p.m.),  Pink Guava Wild Saison (5 p.m.) and Salted Chocolate Almond Imperial Porter and Coconut Imperial Porter (both at 7 p.m.). And because summer means barbecue as well as beer, the Kitchen Table BBQ & Comfort Food will pop in (or pop up, as they say in the business) with great food. The party's free — just pay for your own beer and food while you enjoy live music and the lively Colfax Avenue scenery.

Keep reading for more food and drink events.

Sunday, June 25
We're still not sure exactly what constitutes a basic bitch. Is it the girl next door who knows a lot about Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code? Or is it just a woman who doesn't want to have sex with you? Either way, Rebel Restaurant, 3763 Wynkoop Street, is capitalizing on the phrase with its Basic B@#%h Brunch on Sunday, June 25. From 1 to 7 p.m. (yes, you read that right), $50 will get you an open bar and all-you-can-eat brunch with scads of rosé: Cocktails, slushies and popsicles will be made out of the pink drink, and the brunch menu consists of a whole roasted pig and French-inspired side dishes. Knowing Rebel, everything will be delicious — and far from basic. Nab tickets at nightout.com.

Prost Brewing, 2540 19th Street, is hosting a fundraiser on Sunday, June 25, for Feel the Beat, an innovative dance studio for deaf, hard-of-hearing and special-needs children that uses a vibrating dance floor to help aspiring ballerinas and ballerinos feel the music. From 1 to 4 p.m., $32 gets you a souvenir glass, all-you-can-drink German brews, live music and a raffle ticket. So put on your toe shoes and plié over to Prost for pints for a good cause. Check out feelthebeat.dance for more information.

Local favorites The Kitchen and Leopold Brothers Distillery are teaming up for this month's Community Night at the Boulder restaurant, 1039 Pearl Street. The three-course family-style dinner will include dishes inspired by the brothers' beverage, and will include an optional Leopold Bros. drink pairing with each course. Think juniper-cured pork belly with Navy Strength Gin, lamb with fennel-mint salad and Highland Amaro, and plum-cherry cobbler with spiced ice cream and Three Pins herbal liqueur. Dinner will set you back $50 ($68 with the drink pairings) and starts at 6 p.m. on Sunday, June 25. Call the Kitchen at 303-544-5973 for reservations, and prepare to get cozy at that community table.

Monday, June 26
Start the week off right with a carefree night of fun and games. Work & Class and Cart-Driver are collaborating for Camp Cart & Class, a benefit for Colorado Youth for Change, a nonprofit working to prevent students from dropping out of high school and to bring back students who have already left. Camp Cart & Class is summer camp for adults — cocktails, arts and crafts, delicious food, s'mores and a raffle — without the ticks, sunburn or mean camp counselors. Join the fun at 2500 Larimer Street on Monday, June 26, from 6 to 10 p.m. and relive your childhood summers (except better) for $100 per person. Details and tickets are up on the restaurant's Facebook page. No breaking out into "Kumbaya," kids.

See the Westword calendar for even more food and drink event listings.