Five fests this week: Dash for doughnuts, feel the heat at ZestFest and find your own adventure

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ZestFest

Start chugging the Mylanta now. Your stomach will need the coating to survive this gathering of the hottest things in Texas. The 11th annual ZestFest, which moves this year to the Irving Convention Center, offers three days of tastings, product samples, cooking demos and live music. Get spicy cooking tips from celebrity chefs including Jon Bonnell and Eddie Dean, taste a plethora of zesty foods from vendors or compete in either the atomic wing- or jalapeño-eating contests. In addition to all that, you can also opt to shell out an extra $50 to chow down at the Fiery Food Challenge Awards Dinner on Jan. 29 or $15 for a roasted pig and rib dinner on the 30th (check the website for more info).

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Denton Black Film Festival

Celebrate films from local, national and international filmmakers that reflect the African American experience at this three-day festival. With the aim of entertaining, educating and inspiring the audience, organizers have chosen a slate of shorts and feature-length films (the longest runs about an hour and 45 minutes) that include two documentaries on last year's Ferguson, Mo., events after the death of Michael Brown, a PBS "American Masters" biography of esteemed playwright August Wilson, and the feature film Second Coming starring heartthrob Idris Elba. Other events include musical performances, spoken word sessions and a master acting class led by Tommy Ford, who is best known for his role on the hit '90s sitcom Martin.

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Dallas Travel & Adventure Show

Sure, Rick Steves is an undeniable expert on travel who writes guidebooks and hosts travel programs on public television and radio. But he also has an everyman quality that's inspiring, as in, "Hey, if this guy can take all these great trips, surely I can, too." You can get motivated by him in person at the Dallas Travel & Adventure Show, where he'll talk about Europe. Other keynote speakers include Frommer Guides editorial director Pauline Frommer, CBS News travel editor Peter Greenberg and 1,000 Places to See Before You Die author Patricia Schultz. You'll also find hundreds of vendors and experts with info on global destinations, travel seminars, dance and music performances, and culinary demos from chefs (Blythe Beck, Richard Chamberlain and Tre Wilcox are among the participants).

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Hypnotic Donut Dash

Even couch potatoes could love this running event: There are three -- three! --stops on the 5K route at which you can stuff your face with scrumptious doughnut holes from Hypnotic Donuts (the one-mile "fun run" is, in our opinion, less fun, since it only has one measly doughnut stop). The run begins and ends at the Grand Place building in Fair Park, where a DJ will keep the crowd entertained. You'll want to be there at 9:30 for the Chubby Bunny Contest, in which hardy souls will stuff their faces with doughnut holes and keep them in their mouths as they try to speak intelligibly to the crowd. Runners get a T-shirt and medal with their registration fee. Spectators get to laugh at it all.

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Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo

Rodeo action is a big part of this 120th annual show, but there's a whole lot more to it: Animal exhibits, a petting zoo, a 6-acre carnival midway with rides and games, fair foods, commercial exhibits, an art contest and vendors will quickly fill up your day. Then there are performances on the Coors Light Roadhouse and Stage: this week's lineup includes Sam Riggs on Jan. 30, Cody Canada and the Departed on Feb. 2 and Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison on Feb. 4.

Guide Editor Ann Pinson contributed to this story.