The Savor Food & Wine Festival is back for its third year to bring another full day of southern Arizona's leading food, wine, beer and spirits makers together to present their wares. In addition to 30 restaurants, a dozen wineries and breweries, three distilleries and several other food and beverage vendors, the festival will be featuring some of the many elements that won Tucson its 2015 UNESCO designation as a Creative City of Gastronomy.

As far as the food goes, you can expect local Top Knot duck tinga from Agustin Kitchen, Wagyu beef rillette from the Omni Tucson, chorizo-stuffed clams from Fini's Landing, smoked nopal canape from the on-site Café Botanica and much more when the restaurants serve up tasting samples throughout the event. Local beer, wine, coffee, kombucha and more will also be available courtesy of Borderlands Brewing Co., Sand Reckoner, Hermosa Coffee Roasters, Fermented Tea Company and several other purveyors. Cocktails will be mixed up from The Still, Kingfisher and PY Steakhouse.

However, this year's event also seeks to highlight elements, aside from value-added food and beverage makers, that make the city unique. Exhibitors like the Caridad Community Kitchen from the Community Food Bank, Native Seeds/SEARCH, Iskashitaa Refugee Network, Compost Cats and others will give glimpses into some of the ways Tucson promotes food justice and the heritage of the region's food ways, while seeking to eliminate food waste. Locally grown produce will be showcased by the Santa Cruz River Farmers Market. 

You can get your fill of food and drink samples, mingle with local chefs and learn more about the folks changing the landscape of how food is grown, made, distributed, used and consumed in Tucson at the third annual Savor Food & Wine Festival on Saturday, Feb, 6. The event runs from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Tucson Botanical Gardens (2150 N. Alvernon Way). Tickets are $65 in advance or $75 the day of, if there are tickets left. Admission for the event also includes full access to the garden and its exhibits, including the Butterfly Magic exhibit. For tickets and more information, visit the SAACA website.