Following is a preview of major events happening during the opening weekend of the Forward Festival:

The honor of the first festival event goes to Capital Entrepreneurs, which is opening its doors to its otherwise private monthly networking event. This one will take place from 6-8 p.m. Thursday at Boardman & Clark’s terrace at the U.S. Bank Building.

New this year is the Badger Startup Summit, which aims to connect anyone with ties to Wisconsin (e.g. you went to school here, you grew up here, etc.). Held Friday at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, the all-day event will feature pitches and business leaders from New York, Chicago and Silicon Valley.

A conference with no preset agenda? That’s what you’ll get at BarCamp Madison Saturday at the Engineering Centers Building. Topics will be dependent on what attendees want to talk about. As the organizers repeatedly point out, no sales pitches are allowed.

New coworking space 100state is hosting another problem-solving soiree on Sunday. The purpose is to team up with random people and figure out solutions to one of six Wisconsin public health problems.