• August always means Hatch chiles, and chile lovers can enter their original recipes in the contest at Central Market’s Hatch Chile Festival (4001 N. Lamar, 206-1000; 4477 S. Lamar, 899-4300). There will be one winner selected for every store, and each winner will get a $100 gift card and a year’s supply of Hatch chiles and have their winning recipe posted on the company website. Submit recipes now through noon on Aug. 20 at www.centralmarket.com. In-store judging will take place Aug. 30.

• The third annual Austin Ice Cream Festival takes place this weekend in Waterloo Park (14th & Trinity) with ice cream, food booths, live music, kids activities, arts & crafts, and plenty of family fun. Children 12 and under free. Saturday, Aug. 15, 10am-7pm.

• Austin’s historic Victory Grill (1104 E. 11th, www.historicvictorygrill.org) hosts the first in a series of Sunday brunches with a soul-satisfying Southern buffet and live music from Unified Theory with Courtney Sanchez. A portion of the proceeds will benefit SafePlace. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door. Make reservations at www.thehistoricvictorygrill.eventbrite.com. Sunday, Aug. 16, noon-4pm.

• Celebrate Wheatsville Co-op‘s recently completed renovation project (3101 Guadalupe, 478-2667) with live music, hourly in-store tours, kids activities, and samples from local artisan food producers. Saturday, Aug. 15, noon-4pm.

• Cannoli Joe’s (4715 Hwy. 290 W., 892-4444, www.cannolijoes.com) will host a Handcrafted Beer Tasting Tour at the restaurant each Thurs­day through the end of the year, featuring beers from area microbreweries. Tastings are free with the purchase of dinner. The series opens with beers from Austin’s own Indepen­dence Brewing Co. and Blanco’s Real Ale Brewing Co., with musical entertainment from Austin Light Opera. Thursday, Aug. 20, 6-9pm.

This article appears in August 14 • 2009.

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