Cheese meet isn’t just for members

Although most of the sessions at the American Cheese Society’s 35th annual convention, which runs Wednesday through Saturday at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown, are for members only, the public can get a taste of what the cheesemakers and mongers have to offer.

• The Pennsylvania Cheese Guild will hold Cheese & Bier from 9 to 11 p.m. on Thursday at Southern Tier, North Shore, where the state’s finest cheeses will be available for sampling for $30.

• Runners can take part in the Cheeseletes 5K at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday at the Three Rivers Heritage Trail at Convention Center Riverfront Plaza (1000 Fort Duquesne Blvd.).

• A Festival of Cheese will be held from 7 to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday. For $65, fest-goers can sample hundreds of cheeses and they will include this year’s blue-ribbon winners, and artisan, farmstead and specialty ones. Ciders, brews, crackers and charcuterie also will be served.

Tickets for the festival are available at festivalofcheese.brownpapertickets. Also, on the website, readers who get their information from the PG website or the newspaper can get $10 off tickets by using the code PPG10.

• Also, there will be a Cheese Sale at the same time of the festival where buyers can get as much cheese as they can possibly stuff in an inflated tote bag but provided they are able to zip it. And the price? A mere $60.