Portland

In an era dominated by big name corporate festivals, the real meaning of these events — gathering outdoors to enjoy great bands and possibly some great food— is sometimes lost. “We’re not Live Nation, we’re not C3, we’re not Superfly, we’re not a huge, capital-rich company that can fund whatever we want,” says Zale Schoenborn, co-founder of Pickathon, a roots-rock festival going down this weekend at Pendarvis Farm near Portland, OR.

Cochon 555 is a 10-city tour that is lardcore to the core. It’s a type of offal exhibition rarely seen outside of a Fergus Henderson birthday party. At each of the stops five local chefs compete with one goal in mind—to cook every last morsel of a particular breed of heritage hog like Red Wattle, Hampshire and Berkshire. On Sunday, the tour hit downtown diner The Original in Portland, Oregon where five local chefs showcased their nose-to-tail chops.

Think you need a vineyard to make wine? Not exactly. Wineries, long associated with the pastoral tracts of lands on which grapes are grown, are now cropping up in metropolitan areas. Urban winemakers bring in their grapes from wine country, and press them smack in the middle of their beloved cities. Here are ten favorites.