Beer fans can get a lift to this weekend’s big brew party.

Pop open a cold one at this annual beer festival celebrating American-made craft brews. More than 60 national and local breweries serve up their best drafts at the Scottsdale Civic Center, where festival-goers can enjoy live music, food, beer games and a beer garden. This is a 21-and-older event.

Local chefs featured on the Eight, Arizona PBS show “Check, Please! Arizona” gather at the inaugural Check, Please! Arizona Festival, where fans and foodies can sample some of the Valley’s best restaurant fare and audition for upcoming episodes of the show. Cuisine from at least 36 of the independent restaurants – from five-star dining establishments to tucked-away cafes – previously featured on the show will be offered.  Among event highlights are cooking demonstrations, panel discussions and the chance to audition in front of cameras.

After 16 years of producing craft brews, Four Peaks Brewery is celebrating with a beer festival. Food trucks, live music from indie bands Black Carl and Mergence, and more than 25 types of beer will be on hand for the party at the recently opened Wilson Street tasting room in Tempe.

Weekends are made for moving a little slower, taking time to enjoy oneself and reconnect with whatever’s been put on the back burner during a hectic work week.

Tempe Festival of the Arts: Over 400 artists line Mill Avenue at this nationally ranked art gathering, where attendees also enjoy live music, street performers, food and beverage booths, wine and beer samplings, and a Kids Innovation Station, where kids can make their own take-home art.

Think of it as arts and drafts.

Hardboiled and dyed, plastic and filled with coins, or chocolate and oozing white and yellow fondant, eggs are a hot commodity this time of year.

EastValleyTribune.com/Get Out's Mandy Zajac and Stephanie Perrault share ideas on weekend fun in the Valley of the Sun!

EastValleyTribune.com/Get Out's Mandy Zajac and Stephanie Perrault share ideas on weekend fun in the Valley of the Sun!

This weekend downtown Chandler will be piled high with more than 20,000 pounds of BBQ at the Great American Barbeque and Beer Festival. The roster of restaurants dishing up ribs, brisket, pulled pork and chicken includes old favorites Famous Dave’s, Honey Bear’s BBQ, Joe’s Real BBQ and Tom’s BBQ, along with some newcomers including Porkopolis.

Feeling like you should do something for St. Patrick’s Day but missed Saturday’s downtown parade or don’t fancy a drive all the way to Fountain Hills for a spray of green water?

As if a festival celebrating beer and barbeque couldn’t get any better, it just did: Rock bands Smash Mouth and Hoobastank will headline The Great American Barbeque & Beer Festival on March 23.

The most popular locally produced TV show on Eight, Arizona PBS, will soon take over CityScape in downtown Phoenix.

For the beer, food or smoking enthusiast, here’s an event for tonight: the second annual Cigar, Beer and BBQ Festival.

Tucked away in the heart of San Tan Valley, The Good Life Festival – a multi-event, season-long gathering at Encanterra Country Club – regularly puts a focus on food, wine and music.

Last year “Money Magazine” rated Chandler as one of the 50 best places to live in America — in part because of its annual mouth-watering barbecue and beer festival in AJ Chandler Park.

This weekend Scottsdale celebrates a 60-year-old tradition — the Parada del Sol Parade.

Get ready to rock with Mesa’s hometown superstars, Authority Zero, at the second Mesa Rocks Block Party on March 9. The Downtown Mesa Association’s music festival showcases the Downtown Mesa community and the square mile’s vast amenities, arts and culture, shops, restaurants, and galleries. There will be something for everyone at this festival, including a hefty beer garden filled with craft and domestic beers, a giant kid’s zone full of inflatables, games, food and retail vendors; a Jimmy John’s sandwich eating competition, bags competition and more.

The olives from the 2012 harvest have been pressed, and the slick, aromatic liquid they yielded is something to celebrate. At least, it is around these parts.

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts will open the 26th season of its free Sunday A’Fair outdoor concert series on Jan. 13 with performances by Marty & The Party Band and Tesoro from noon to 4 p.m.

Prescott’s already a Christmastime destination in Arizona, thanks to its old-fashioned courthouse square and Victorian homes decorated in lights.