From April 1-4, 800 food professionals will meet in Denver for the International Association of Culinary Professionals annual conference. This is the first time the conference has been held in Denver, and the local food community has been working hard to make it a success. In keeping with this year’s theme, “Pioneering a Sustainable World,” the conference’s Green Team developed a program that includes recycling, water stations rather than bottled water, use of glass, china and cloth napkins and composting of food from the conference.

For the first time ever, IACP has opened up certain conference events to the general public, so check out the options at the IACP website. For fees ranging from $40 to $180, some of the offerings are Beer Lover’s Paradise, a walking tour and local beer tasting in historic lower downtown Denver with noted local historian Tom Noel, a Colorado Lamb and Rocky Mountain Tour featuring a lamb dinner prepared by Chef Jennifer Jasinski of Rioja and a Wild and Rare Cooking Demo with Chef John Ash at Denver’s Cook Street School. This is a rare opportunity for local food lovers to rub shoulders with pros from all over the U.S.