The Agave Heritage Festival is back
The 10th Agave Heritage Festival is April 27 - May 6th
The Agave Heritage Festival, recognized as one of the world’s best small festivals, celebrates its 10th anniversary with a 10 day schedule showcasing over 25 events throughout Tucson. The weeklong + festival features a variety of regional culinary experiences, lectures and seminars on the diversity and sustainability of the agave plant, two documentary screening at the iconic Loft Cinema, and a FREE Family Friendly Cinco de Mayo celebration at one of the top tourist attractions in Tucson, Tohono Chul.
The Festival has gained significant support throughout the community this year with partners Visit Tucson, Rio Nuevo, the Tucson City of Gastronomy, Tohono Chul, Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, and other local businesses. Many of the events featured in the festival are fundraising events to help support local organizations like Mission Garden and Native Seeds SEARCH.
With the exponential growth in events and attendance expectations this year, creating a dedicated website was important to unfold the details of the entire festival. Visit www.agaveheritagefestival.com
Known for bringing experts in the fields of regional food, agriculture, and sustainability together, The Agave Heritage Festival welcomes many guests this year, including Elizabeth Johnson, founder and executive chef of Pharm Table from San Antonio, recently named the second City of Gastronomy in the United States, to be a guest chef for the annual Agave Heritage Dinner.
The University of Arizona will give the 2018 Howard Scott Gentry award to Patricia Colunga-García Marín and Daniel Zizumbo-Villarreal, whose award-winning documentary, The Mesoamerican Diet, will be featured at the first ever Agave Heritage Festival documentary screening at The Loft Cinema.
This festival is about much more than just spirits, but there will be drinking, excuse me, SIPPING! Many of Tucson's largest distribution companies are supporting the festival this year by extending the best in mezcal, bacanora, sotol, and tequila from their artisinal portfolios.
Many new ground-breaking events have been added to the festival this year:
- April 27 | An Evening with Janos: Celebrating Tucson's Culinary Master - This Native Seeds SEARCH fundraising dinner event will feature local chefs preparing their take on Janos classic recipes.
- April 29 | Agave Garden Planting - Be a part of Tucson history and join the planting of an agave garden on Tumamoc Hill.
- May 4 | El Tambo Fest, Night Two - Extending the annual borderland music event to two nights, DJ Dirty Verbs invites musicians and producers from all around to meet in Tucson for a night filled with great music and panel discussions.
- May 4 | Agave Heritage Dinner -The only two US Cities of Gastronomy, Tucson and San Antonio, TX, come together for an exploration of Sonoran heritage cuisine in this once-in-a-lifetime collaborative dinner. Special guest Elizabeth Johnson, founder of Pharm Table, named one of the “Top 10 New Restaurants in San Antonio" collaborates with Maynards Market & Kitchen Executive Chef Brian Smith and Cup Cafe Executive Chef Joe Decker to bring you an exquisite course dining experience.
- May 5 | Free Family Friendly Cinco De Mayo - Visit Tohono Chul from 12-4pm for an event filled with the traditions of the southwest. Enjoy authentic presentations from jimadors, mariachi band performances, roasted agave tastes, food vendors, agave spirit tastings, movie screenings, a local produce farmers market, artist displays, games for the kids, and much more!
- May 6 | Agave Heritage Brunch - Not your ordinary Sunday brunch! Maynards Kitchen's Chef Brian Smith & Tohono Chul's Chef Michael Montesano collaborate on a very special Sunday Brunch menu that incorporates local, wild crafted foods. Gary Nabhan and Barry Infuso will discuss the heritage of the local, native ingredients as Kyle Bert brings you sounds playing Didgeridoo music.
Join these events and more as the city of Tucson explores the significance of the agave, deeply rooted in the fibers of our border town.