London Cocktail Week, the world’s biggest cocktail festival, will return from October 12-22, with a renewed focus for 2023 on the city’s revered reputation as a global capital of cocktail culture. The 14th annual festival will this year welcome a new Connoisseur’s Collection of unique events for the most dedicated cocktail enthusiasts, as well as the return of its celebrated Curated Cocktail Tours, offering drinks for £8 across London’s top bars.
A popular mainstay of London Cocktail Week since its inception, the Curated Cocktail Tours will see hundreds of bars across the city offer £8 Signature Cocktails, that have been specially created for the duration of the festival. Cocktail lovers will be able to explore and experience the very best of London’s vibrant bar scene by making their way through the curated selection of participating bars, with the Signature Cocktails available to anyone who shows their festival wristband. Each £15 wristband is valid for the duration of the 11-day festival, and will be available to purchase in advance online and at the bars themselves during the festival, with each bar retaining the full ticket fee – a new initiative for this year aiming to give further support to London’s bar industry. Acclaimed venues already confirmed to be taking part include award-winning cocktail bars Satan’s Whiskers, Swift, Nightjar and Hacha, with many more yet to be announced.
Brand new for this year is the Connoisseur’s Collection, a programme of exclusive, reservation-only events held at a handful of London’s most prestigious bar venues. Each intimate experience will represent the very pinnacle of cocktail service, with one-off tastings, unique cocktail flights and masterclasses led by world-leading, award-winning bartenders.
In 2023, London Cocktail Week is looking to not only showcase the city’s incredible bar industry, but support the people behind it more than ever before. Another new element will be the Bartender Knowledge Exchange, aimed at giving bartenders visiting the city from around the world the chance to learn from some of the very best in the business. Focusing on experiential learning on-site at some of the London’s most celebrated bars, opportunities will include back-of-house tours, exclusive tastings and talks, and a ‘Seat at the Bar’, a bar seat at top tier venues that is bookable exclusively for bartenders, to allow them to watch their peers at work.
2023 attendees will also be pleased to see the return of the printed London Cocktail Week Guidebook, which each festival-goer will receive alongside their wristband to allow them to plan and record their journey through the city’s best bars.
