New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) has announced the preliminary lineup for its 2015 Cultivate food, music and ideas festivals, with events planned in two new cities -
Phoenix and Kansas City - and returning to Minneapolis for a second time. This year marks the fifth anniversary of the Cultivate Festival, which encourages attendees to think and talk about food and food issues in a fun and engaging environment. Cultivate
Phoenix will be held on Saturday, April 18, at WestWorld in Scottsdale; Cultivate Kansas City is on Saturday, July 18, in Penn Valley Park; and Cultivate Minneapolis is on Saturday, August 22, in Loring Park. Admission for all events is free.
Each Cultivate event will feature performances by popular bands, cooking demonstrations by renowned national and local chefs, and interactive experiences for festival-goers of all ages. The interactive experiences will focus on sustainable food practices, including an exhibit explaining how to make Chipotle's guacamole, the reality of processed foods and a Kids' Zone with snacks and fun activities.
Chipotle's culinary team has created a special menu available for purchase exclusively at the events. All signature dishes will be made using fresh, sustainable ingredients. ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen, Chipotle's Asian concept, will also serve food during the festivals. An Artisan Hall will offer food from local food artisans, and a selection of local craft beer, wine, and ciders will be available in the Tasting Hall. Each festival will feature a Cultivate Farmhouse Ale, a Saison-style beer exclusively brewed from a local brewery.
Chipotle has partnered with IZZE Sparkling Juice to give customers a chance to win a trip for two to the Cultivate Festival of the winner's choice in Phoenix, Kansas City or Minneapolis. For more information, visit www.chipotlecultivate.com.
FESTIVAL DETAILS
Cultivate
Phoenix will feature musical artists Twenty One Pilots, MS MR, Magic Man and Jared & The Mill. Chefs
Amanda Freitag ("Chopped,"
Empire Diner in New York), Richard Blais ("Top Chef," "Top Chef Masters," Juniper & Ivy in San Diego), Charleen Badman (FnB in Scottsdale, Ariz.), Joshua Hebert (POSH in Scottsdale), and Chris Schlattman (The Upton in Scottsdale) will present cooking demonstrations.
Portugal. The Man will perform at Cultivate Kansas City, and additional artists will be announced at a later date. Chefs Tim Love (CNBC's "Restaurant Startup," Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, The Woodshed Smokehouse and White Elephant Saloon in Dallas/Fort Worth), Freitag, Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson (Frasca Food and Wine, Pizzeria Locale in Boulder, Colo.), Graham Elliot ("MasterChef," Graham Elliot Bistro in Chicago), and Colby Garrelts (Rye in Leawood, Kan. and Bluestem in Kansas City, Mo.) will present cooking demonstrations.
Minneapolis' cooking demonstrations will be presented by Andrew Zimmern ("Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern," Canteen in Minneapolis), Richard Blais ("Top Chef All Stars," Juniper & Ivy, The Spence and Flip), Gavin Kaysen (Spoon and Stable in Minneapolis), Jamie Malone and Erik Anderson (the upcoming Brut in Minneapolis), and Jim Christiansen (Heydey in Minneapolis). Walk the Moon is headlining the festival, with the full music lineup to be announced at a later date.
Corporate partners for the 2015 Cultivate Festivals include IZZE™, Tabasco, Applegate, California Avocados, Earthbound Farm, Lifeway Kefir, Naked Juice, The North Face, Burt's Bees and Breville.
Chipotle's inaugural Cultivate Festival was hosted in
Chicago in 2011. Following its success, the festival expanded to Denver (2012 and 2013), and San Francisco (2013 and 2014). The 2014 festival series made its debut in Minneapolis and Dallas.
For more information, including specific activities at each festival, please visit: Chipotle.com/cultivate.
ABOUT CHIPOTLE
Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO, started Chipotle with the idea that food served fast did not have to be a typical fast food experience. Today, Chipotle continues to offer a focused menu of burritos, tacos, burrito bowls (a burrito without the tortilla) and salads made from fresh, high-quality raw ingredients, prepared using classic cooking methods and served in a distinctive atmosphere. Through our vision of Food With Integrity, Chipotle is seeking better food from using ingredients that are not only fresh, but that—where possible—are sustainably grown and raised responsibly with respect for the animals, the land, and the farmers who produce the food. In order to achieve this vision, we focus on building a special people culture that is centered on creating teams of top performers empowered to achieve high standards. This people culture not only leads to a better dining experience for our customers, it also allows us to develop future leaders from within. Chipotle opened with a single restaurant in 1993 and operates nearly 1,800 restaurants, including 17 Chipotle restaurants outside the US, nine ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen restaurants, and is an investor in an entity that owns and operates two Pizzeria Locale restaurants. For more information, visit Chipotle.com.
