Chipotle Mexican Grill said today that it will hold its “Cultivate Food, Ideas and Music” Festivals in Denver and Chicago in 2012.

Cultivate Denver is slated for Saturday, Oct. 6 in the Meadow at City Park. Cultivate Chicago will be held on Saturday, Sept. 15 in Lincoln Park.

The free, one-day festivals will include cooking demonstrations by celebrity chefs, live music, food artisans and other activities emphasizing fresh and affordable food.

“Cultivate is the first festival of its kind to bring together national culinary talent, musicians and thought leaders,” said Mark Crumpacker, chief marketing officer at Chipotle.

“These events give our customers an opportunity to experience Chipotle in a new way and to learn something better about issues in food, develop a deeper appreciation for farmers and food artisans who are changing food culture for the better, and enjoy some great music,” said Crumpacker.

Chefs conducting cooking demonstrations throughout the day at both events are Richard Blais (The Spence; HD-1; Flip Burger Boutique/Atlanta); Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo (Animal; Son of A Gun/Los Angeles and Amanda Freitag (series “Chopped” and “Iron Chef America”).

Musical acts slated to perform include G. Love & Special Sauce and Allen Stone in Chicago and Best Coast and Okkervil River in Denver.

Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com on twitter @HowardPankratz