Get your drink on and enjoy some county fair fun this weekend

By the Thirst Team

Get Out of Town is our weekly roundup of recommended events across Colorado. For more happenings, check out our events calendar.

Pours on the Plains

What could be better than sampling great Colorado craft beer before riding carnival rides and watching fireworks? The Pours on the Plains beer festival on Friday may be the only opportunity to do all three in one night. It is part of the Arapahoe County Fair at the fairgrounds in east Aurora.

This year’s edition also includes live music, a photo bus, golf simulator, a roaming magician, temporary tattoo and henna artists and more. Lazy Dog Restaurant will sell food at the beer festival (cash only). Carnival fare also is available throughout the fairground.

Attendees will vote on the people’s choice awards, and some Thirst team members are on the professional judging panel for the event. Come say hello, and help us choose the best beers in several creative categories.

Logan County Fair and Rodeo

Sterling hosts the Logan County Fair and Rodeo, opening Thursday and running through Sunday, Aug. 3. The fair includes carnival rides, mutton bustin’, youth and adult rodeo, parade, demolition derby and more. Jo Dee Messina and Clare Dunn will perform on Aug. 2.

This year’s theme, chosen through a drawing contest for children, is “Blue Jeans & Country Dreams.” The Logan County Fair dates back to 1888, when the first fair included alligators and “corn that was two thousand years old.”

Crafts, Cocktails & Corks

A new event comes to Winter Park on Saturday. The Rendezvous Event Center hosts food vendors, live music and tastings from Colorado wineries, breweries and distilleries.

The event opens at 11 a.m. with a VIP Tasting, followed by a VIP Chocolate Pairing at 11:45 a.m. The general admission tasting starts at noon. A paint and sip class runs from noon to 1 p.m. The event ends at 5 p.m.

There will be a “best of” contest for participating wineries, breweries, and distilleries, and the event is a fundraiser for Grand Foundation’s G.A.P. Fund for Youth.

Colorado Craft Walk

Blanchard Family Wines is expanding its popular Colorado Wine Walk concept with the Colorado Craft Walk on Sunday at Denver’s Dairy Block, which is near Coors Field. For the first time, the event includes spirits and beer, as well as the wines that made the original event famous. Taste unlimited samples, and meet creative and fun Colorado craft libations producers.

VIP access begins at 1 p.m., general admission starts at 2 p.m., and the event wraps up at 5 p.m. Thirst Colorado will have a booth at the event as well, so stop by to meet the team and enter a ticket giveaway.

Slaymaker Anniversary Party

Slaymaker Cellars, a meadery in Idaho Springs, will host its fifth anniversary party from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, with drink specials, meadery tours and barrel tastings. There also will be live music all day, family activities and food vendors at the free event.

Breckenridge Food and Wine

The Breckenridge Food and Wine Festival probably should lead with the wine. The event showcases 300 wines from more than 70 top global wineries. There also will be local food.

The festival opens Friday night with a VIP wine dinner. Saturday brings the grand tasting, with food vendors, shopping and live music by Spinphony and DJ DC. On Sunday, the event closes with a brunch (featuring more wine, of course).

Italian Wine & Movie Night

Balistreri Vineyards in Denver hosts Italian wine and movie nights on Friday and Saturday. Each night pairs a wine-themed film with a traditional Italian feast and a selection of wines from the Balistreri cellar.

Friday’s film is "Bottle Shock” starring Alan Rickman. The film is an entertaining take on the so-called “Judgment of Paris,” which first boosted the stature of California wines. Saturday’s movie is “The Secret of Santa Vittoria,” about an Italian town that tries to hide its wine from occupying Nazi troops.

As always, please send us your events and announcements. We’re happy to share them. If they don’t fit in the Get Out of Town column, we will add them to our events calendar.