Sample booze inspired by Canadian celebrities during Ontario Craft Beer Week 2014

Before there were whole calendar weeks devoted to poutine, burgers and the absence of gluten, there was Ontario Craft Beer Week, a relative pioneer in the Toronto festival scene. The lineup for this year’s fest—OCBW’s fourth—is a beer geek’s dream of tastings, brewery tours, pub crawls, educational seminars, tap takeovers, beer dinners and other boozy events. It may also be a celeb-stalker’s dream, thanks to the involvement of famous Canadians like musician Sam Roberts, author Margaret Atwood and comedian Tom Green. They’re all participating in Session Toronto’s Collaboration Nation, a massive festival opener in Yonge-Dundas Square on Friday, June 13. They and 28 other celebrities and semi-celebrities have teamed up with 30 craft brewers to create collaborative, limited-edition beers, the best of which will win a coveted spot on LCBO shelves. (Green, who won last year’s competition for his collaboration with Beau’s All Natural, will be overseeing this year’s event.) It’s a competition, sure, but also a party, with live music and lots of food, including offerings from Bacon Nation, the upcoming all-bacon restaurant on Queen West.

June 13. $40 ($50 door). Yonge-Dundas Square, 1 Dundas St. E., sessiontoronto.com