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DiningOut’s 2024 Trend Report: A Deliciously Fun Year Ahead

Written By: author avatar Steph Wilson
author avatar Steph Wilson
Steph Wilson is a writer, editor, and creative maximalist in Denver. She makes magazines for a living and throws color around the world like confetti for fun.
Deliciously Fun Year Ahead Get first dibs on Denver’s hottest food festivals in 2024 by signing up for DiningOut Events text alerts now—and be entered for a chance to win VIP access. Think fast: it’s an early spring morning in Denver, and those in the know are already one step ahead. They’re snagging spots at the city’s top food festivals—RARE Steak Championship, Top Taco, and Chicken Fight!—where the flavors are as bold as the buzz. Want in? Slide into the inner circle by signing up for DiningOut Events’ ticket notifications. Next year’s food festival scene is already heating up, and you’re invited to the forefront. Each year, these fests get bigger and better than ever before. (And they’ve all always been really big and really great if we do say so ourselves. Not that we have to—the comment feeds below our post-event recaps are always aflutter with praise from our fun- and food-loving fans. Here’s a sampling: “Fab event, super fun, lots of good eats!” “We had an epic time!” “What an awesome time!” “Such a tasty time!” “BEST TIME!” and “I look forward to this all year!”
Deliciously Fun Year Ahead Get first dibs on Denver’s hottest food festivals in 2024 by signing up for DiningOut Events text alerts now—and be entered for a chance to win VIP access. Think fast: it’s an early spring morning in Denver, and those in the know are already one step ahead. They’re snagging spots at the city’s top food festivals—RARE Steak Championship, Top Taco, and Chicken Fight!—where the flavors are as bold as the buzz. Want in? Slide into the inner circle by signing up for DiningOut Events’ ticket notifications. Next year’s food festival scene is already heating up, and you’re invited to the forefront. Each year, these fests get bigger and better than ever before. (And they’ve all always been really big and really great if we do say so ourselves. Not that we have to—the comment feeds below our post-event recaps are always aflutter with praise from our fun- and food-loving fans. Here’s a sampling: “Fab event, super fun, lots of good eats!” “We had an epic time!” “What an awesome time!” “Such a tasty time!” “BEST TIME!” and “I look forward to this all year!”

Win A Pair Of Tickets To One Of The 2024 DiningOut Events!

Think fast: it’s an early spring morning in Denver, and those in the know are already one step ahead. They’re snagging spots at the city’s top food festivals—RARE Steak Championship, Top Taco, and Chicken Fight!—where the flavors are as bold as the buzz. Want in? Slide into the inner circle by signing up for DiningOut Events’ ticket notifications. Next year’s food festival scene is already heating up, and you’re invited to the forefront.

Each year, these fests get bigger and better than ever before. (And they’ve all always been really big and really great if we do say so ourselves. Not that we have to—the comment feeds below our post-event recaps are always aflutter with praise from our fun- and food-loving fans. Here’s a sampling: “Fab event, super fun, lots of good eats!” “We had an epic time!” “What an awesome time!” “Such a tasty time!” “BEST TIME!” and “I look forward to this all year!”

If you, too, look forward all year to eating all the tacos your body can handle and then riding a mechanical bull or filling up on chicken wings and craft cocktails before strapping into a roller coaster, then this is what you need to do now to get access to the first ticket drops of 2024: Sign up for the DiningOut Events Gourmet Gold List!

That’s your shortcut to the front of the line for those elusive VIP and Early Bird tickets—and it’s the only way to access those low Early Bird prices as well.

And just a heads-up, those VIP tickets will be even rarer next year. And here’s a little insider info from our comment feed: Top Taco tickets? They fly. For proof, we turn again to our comments feed: when Top Taco 2023 went on sale, one guy wrote, “[tix] went waaaayyyy too fast. Literally, 8:01 a.m., and some were already sold out.” To which another tortilla-loving follower replied: “Click it or ticket bruh.”

VIP and Early Bird tickets for all our fests are notoriously elusive, and in 2024, we’re dialing up the rarity. Only the food fans who sign up before the end of 2023 get first dibs on tix to the festivals in 2024. And some of the tickets already had a reputation for playing hard to get. 

Plus, early sign-ups could win one of 10 pairs of VIP tickets to the festival of their choice. However, will they decide? 

Win A Pair Of Tickets To One Of The 2024 DiningOut Events!

Whether you’re at Top Taco, RARE Steak Championship, or Chicken Fight!, it’s all about good eats, chill vibes, and crafty cocktails galore. Each of these fests has its own flavor, but they all scream Denver. Unless it’s RARE Steak Championship Houston, which puts a Texas twist on the greatest steak showdown in all the land. And Denver answered, with a smile on their face and some tacos (or wings or steak bites) in hand.  

Top Taco: The Big, Bold Taco Bash

Imagine a huge lawn, the sun shining, and tacos as far as the eye can see. That’s Top Taco. It’s the biggest, it’s the loudest, and it’s the one everyone talks about. People wear their taco love on their tees, and when those gates open, it’s like a race to taco paradise.

RARE Steak Championship: Classy Bites in a Cool Spot

This is where steak gets the spotlight it deserves. It’s a cocktail-attire-dress-code kind of affair in Sculpture Park, with a dash of fancy and a whole lot of flavor. Throw in the SURF Seafood Championship for VIPs, and you’ve got a night that’s as refined as it is delicious. ​​The fest made its debut in Houston this year, adding a Lone Star flair to our sizzling steak celebration.

Chicken Fight!: The Ultimate Summer Wrap Party

Forget the rides—Chicken Fight! is all about the people, the food, and the drinks. Chicken Fight! is the big summer send-off—drink some more drinks, eat some more eats, and let the music move you one more time. Chicken Fight! is a vibe, and it’s unabashedly fun. It’s like being a kid again but with way better food.

DiningOut Sponsored Competitions and Events

Garnish Games: Creatively Inspired Cocktail Competition

At Meow Wolf’s Convergence Station, the Garnish Games, sponsored by Diageo, took creativity to another dimension. Ten of Denver’s most imaginative bartenders competed, turning cocktails into art with garnishes ranging from classic lemon meringue to the wildly unexpected—think mozzarella sticks, Pop Rocks, and sugar glass. It was a spectacle to see and to taste, perfectly matched to its otherworldly venue.

The Ritual: Celebration of Tableside Service

The Ritual, sponsored by Remy Martin, brought mixology back to its roots in a celebration of craft and creativity. This Colorado cocktail competition challenged the region’s top bartenders to create a custom cocktail “ritual” that exemplified true hospitality. The result? A display of ingenuity and beauty that ushered in a new era of signature beverage service.

So, if you’re about that festival life, get those alerts set for 2024. Or suffer the FOMO consequences.

Win A Pair Of Tickets To One Of The 2024 DiningOut Events!

author avatar
Steph Wilson
Steph Wilson is a writer, editor, and creative maximalist in Denver. She makes magazines for a living and throws color around the world like confetti for fun.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

ATL

Rare

Apr 9th, 2026

HTX

Top Taco

Apr 23rd, 2026

DAL

Rare

May 7th, 2026

HTX

Chicken Fight

May 21st, 2026

DEN

Top Taco

Jun 18th, 2026

DEN

Surf

Jul 30th, 2026

DEN

Chicken Fight

Aug 20th, 2026

NYC

Rare

Sep 10th, 2026

DEN

Rare

Sep 24th, 2026

HTX

Rare

Oct 8th, 2026

DAL

Top Taco

Oct 29th, 2026

PHX

Rare

Nov 12th, 2026

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