The Weekend Playbook: Free tickets to a bacon fest & a chef three-way

Strip of bacon sizzling on a grill.

Freebie of the Week Celebrate International Bacon Day on August 31st by eating your weight in bacon and beer at the Hormel Black Label Bacon Fest. The best part is, we're giving away two VIP tickets! VIP access includes entrance an hour early, all food, adult beverages, a commemorative glass, and a brew caddy to hold it. To enter, tweet and tell us who your favorite fictional pig is...Ongoing With the addition of their new beer and wine license, Soda and Swine has debuted a menu featuring five rotating craft beers and red and white wine on tap. They’re doing beer floats like Stone Brewing Co’s Farking Wheaton w00stout with their housemade vanilla or AleSmith’s Nut Brown Ale with chocolate soft-serve ice cream. Mmmmm, beer floats....Thursday, August 22nd There’s a chef trifecta putting on a three-course dinner at Jsix tonight at 7p. Chefs from Jsix, Cusp, and Saltbox are joining together again using tomatoes as the key ingredient in part two of their series of seasonal dinners. Make a reservation...Cat Eye Club is hosting a '60s-inspired dinner party. The five-course feast will feature oysters Rockefeller, heirloom tomato gazpacho, prime rib, and more, served with plenty of cocktails. Dine like Don Draper... Launching this week, Toast Enoteca & Cucina will host a supper club every Thursday night at 7p with off-menu dishes that won't be revealed until that morning on Toast's Facebook page. This week, they’ll start things off with Tuscan cuisine from Chef Martin Gonzalez and Baja Med from Chef Chad White for a five-course wine-paired dinner. Call for reservations…This Weekend, August 24-25th This weekend, Liberty Station will be taken over by more than 100 artists, dozens of live musicians, gourmet food, and entertainment for the free 8th Annual ArtWalk @ NTC from 10a-6p. Get the details... The San Diego Spirits Festival is back for its fifth year with unlimited cocktail and food samples, Drop Dead Dames Burlesque, a pin-up girl fashion show, bartender battles, craft beer, and Vince Neil unveiling his Tatuado Vodka. Get an all-inclusive ticket for all the alcohol you can drink...Saturday, August 24th Join a couples-themed scavenger hunt that ends with awards, prizes, and happy hour specials at The Commons downtown. The scavenger hunt will take you all over the Gaslamp and East Village to rooftop lounges, hotels, restaurants, and secret San Diego spots. Enter the promo code “HiddenSanDiego” to get the discounted rate… The BEERology: Craft, Culture, and Civilization exhibit opens at the San Diego Museum of Man, where you can learn about how cultures around the world perfected brewing. Learn something while you taste brews from Green Flash, Ballast Point, and more...Thursday, August 29th Chefs Chris Idso of Pacifica and Ryan Johntson of Prepkitchen are hosting a six-course “Final Days of Summer” FEAST on the deck at the Del Mar Plaza starting at 6p with a cocktail reception. Feast with an ocean view... Stone Farms is hosting a literal farm-to-table dinner, with their Summer pairings in the fields, including six dishes from fresh food stations set up throughout Stone Farms paired with beers not available anywhere else. Dine out... in a field...