AUG. 22-24

PURE MENDOCINO IN UKIAH, CALIF.

Organics, an eating naturally and locally, are the talk of the food world and beyond. Pure Mendocino, an annual festival built around organic and sustainable food and lifestyles, has been celebrating what it considers to be the "greenest" county in California, for four years. The Aug. 22-24 event in Ukiah includes a gala organic dinner, an organic food and wine tasting and tour of certified organic farms in the area, along with a picnic. And events benefit the Cancer Resource Centers of Mendocino County. www.puremendocino.org; 800-449-6483.

SEPT. 26-28

AMERICAN WINE AND FOOD FESTIVAL

Anybody who watches "Top Chef" knows that getting a group of chefs into a single room and putting them to work can lead to, at the very least, drama. But every year for the pzast 16 years, uberchef Wolfgang Puck and his designer wife Barbara Lazaroff have gathered as many as 50 celebrity chefs to produce the culinary event of the year, the American Wine and Food Festival benefit for the Los Angeles chapters of Meals on Wheels. A single dinner has evolved into a weekend of activities, starting Sept. 26 with an event, Red Hot @ Red Seven, Puck's new West Hollywood restaurant, followed by the centerpiece event on the Universal Studios' back lot on Sept. 27 and a Chef's Grand Tasting Dinner on Sept. 28 at Spago Beverly Hills. Tickets are on sale now. www.AWFF.org.

NOV. 20

NA MELE O MAUI SONG AND ART COMPETITION

The 38th annual Na Mele O Maui Song and Art Competition takes place Nov. 20 at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa at Kaanapali Resort on the Valley Isle with choral singers as young as kindergartners and all the way up to seniors in high school. The High School Art Competition is a judged contest in which students interpret the annual Hawaiian theme through two- or three-dimensional art entries. www.kaanapaliresort.com; 808-661-3271.