Entrepreneurs from all backgrounds, including tech and food, will descend upon the city Aug. 21-28 for the fifth annual Forward Festival, organizers announced today.

“With the growth of the event as well as the involvement of our community, we’re excited to showcase Madison’s entrepreneurial ecosystem across several industries,” Bryan Chan, festival co-founder, said in a statement. “The environment is all about promoting and creating the next big thing.”

Following is a preview of major events happening during the eight-day celebration of innovation and entrepreneurship.

The festival kicks off with the annual Madison+ Ruby Conference, held Thursday-Saturday at the Overture Center. While the atypical conference focuses on technical content, non-technical conversation is welcomed and beginning developers are encouraged to attend. The conference includes yoga breaks, local flavor sessions, musicians and even circus performers.

The inaugural Edible Startup Summit, an event geared toward food entrepreneurs, provides insight and connections to help launch a food business. Attendees will hear from food entrepreneurs such as Adrian Reif of Yumbutter and gain access to industry and government resources at this event held on Aug. 25 at the Memorial Union.

The Aug. 26 Badger Startup Summit at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery is even bigger in its sophomore year, with keynote speaker Erica Gruen (formerly of the Food Network) and a women’s business panel among the sessions. The day concludes with the first Wisconsin Innovation Awards, which honors innovators in the state, at the Memorial Union.

Anchoring the festival as always is the Forward Technology Conference, which takes place Aug. 27 at a new location, the Monona Terrace. Jignesh Patel, a UW-Madison professor who sold his software company to Twitter, will be the keynote speaker of the conference, which focuses this year on “healthy entrepreneurship.” The Forward Technology Startup Showcase proceeds FTC at the Majestic Theater.