If you’re a foodie, or just like good eating, mark your calendar now. And then hit the gym. You’ll need the extra workouts for this one.

   Harrah’s Entertainment will host its second annual food and wine festival July 30 to August 2.  It’s a four-day event that features celebrity chef cooking demos, an exhibition hall full of yummy food and good booze, pool parties and a cigar party at the Bikini Beach bar. The events take place at all four properties, and the tickets just went on sale today.

   There are a limited number of $2,000 “pink ribbon” passes, which benefit a local cancer fund. It gives you access to a lot of events so you can stuff your face all weekend.

   Last year, a couple buddies and I went to the expo in the ballroom at Bally’s. It costs $30 to get in, but that includes all the samples of food, wine and beer that you can fit into your gut. I’d suggest starting with the Harrah’s Entertainment restaurant tables, where the samples were out of this world. I went back for seconds and thirds on some of them. Other local restaurants offer tastes of their fare, and that was far from shabby. We went on Sunday, and one of the microbreweries gave us extra bottles of their beer to take home because they didn’t feel like packing it up. We made the mistake of booking dinner in Bacchanal at Caesars after the expo. Needless to say, we were too stuffed to enjoy what is usually an awesome repast.

   Logon to www.acfoodandwine.com for event details and to buy tickets. The only drawback for Harrah’s players is that last year, they didn’t let you pay with Reward Credits.

   I have a correction to make from my last post. To view the “green rewards” Harrah’s properties are offering for their Earth Day promotion, visit www.harrahs.com/acgogreen. Sorry about that.

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