2016 Cocktail Week Calendar: Plan Ahead!
Who likes booze? We do! So much so that over the last 5 and a half years we’ve been lucky enough to attend some pretty awesome drinking events. Some call it a cocktail week, some a festival, some a conference, but we do know is when you combine a lot of booze and a lot of learning all in one location for a (relatively) low price a lot of fun happens and we learn a sh*t ton about new brands, best uses for spirits, cocktails and emerging trends. Tales of the Cocktail popped our cherry in 2011 and since then we’ve been addicted. Don’t think these events aren’t for you, anyone can attend! We’ve run into drink snobs, members of the media, employees of brands, and then just regular folks looking for a good time. The one’s hosted in major cities or heavy tourist areas tend to get a lot of “walk ups” that just see they can drink a lot for a little.
Occasionally events reach out to us asking us to attend, and we’re so flattered, but unfortunately we can’t make them all, especially this year with baby #2 on the way in April. But with proper planning and coordination there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to attend one near you or even make some arrangements to travel. We borrowed this awesome idea to put together a cocktail weeks calendar from LACocktails, and made a few additions to help you plan some booze trips this year. January has already come and gone, so you’ve missed out on a few awesome one’s already. Good news is there’s still 11 more months and even better, most of these are annual so you can be better prepared for next year! We’ll be adding more events to this calendar as we find them.
January
- San Antonio Cocktail Conference, January 14-17
- Paris Cocktail Week, France, January 23-30
- Golden State of Cocktails, Los Angeles, January 24-26
February
- For the Love of Cocktails, Las Vegas, February 11-14
- Arizona Cocktail Week, Phoenix/ Scottsdale, February 13-21
- Bourbon Classic, Louisville, KY, February 23-27
- Madison Cocktail Week, Wisconsin, February 18-21
March
- American Craft Distillers Convention and Trade Show, Chicago, March 2-3
- WhiskeyFest DC: March 2nd
- Apres Ski Cocktail Classic, Aspen, CO, March 3-6
- Nightclub & Bar Convention and Trade Show, Las Vegas, March 7-9
- Bartenders Weekend, San Diego, March 13-17
- WhiskeyFest Chicago: March 18th
- Whiskies of the World San Jose: March 24th
- Whiskies of the World San Francisco: March 26th
- Great American Spirits Festival (Formerly Thirst Fest), Portland, OR
- Baltimore Cocktail Week
April
- Craft Spirits Conference & Vendor Expo, San Diego, CA April 4-7
- TOTC on Tour, Mexico City, April 10-12
- Wine and Spirits Wholesales of America (WSWA), Las Vegas, April 18-21
- DSTILL, Denver
- Rum Renaissance, Miami, April 15-17
- Bar Institute: Baltimore April 17-19
May
- Bar Institute: Phoenix May 1-3
- New England Tequila and Rum Festival, Lincoln, Rhode Island, May 7
- Montreal Cocktail Week, Canada, May 10-16
- Lisbon Bar Show, Portugal, May 17-18
- Rochester Cocktail Revival, New York
- Boutique Bar Show, Manchester, May 18
- Tokyo International Bar Show, Japan
- Thirst Boston, May 20-23
- Perfect Serve Barshow, Amsterdam, May 23-24
- Cocktails and Spirits Show, Paris (going to Hong Kong in October 2016)
- Bogota Cocktail Week, Colombia, May 30-June 4
- Camp Runamok, Bourbon Camp, Lebanon Junction, KY (Session I)
June
- New England Cocktail Conference, Portland, ME, June 2-5
- New Mexico Cocktails & Culture, Santa Fe, June 3-7
- Hukilau, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, June 8-12
- Bar Institute: Austin June 12-14
- Cane Camp, Puerto Rico, June 17-24
- Texas Tequila and Margarita Festival, Galveston, TX
July
- Imbibe Live, UK, July 4-5
- Northwest Spirits and Mixology Show, Bend, OR
- Tales of the Cocktail, New Orleans, July 19-24
August
- Texas Tiki Week, Austin
- Top Shelf Boutique Drinks Festival, Melbourne, Australia
- Tiki Oasis, San Diego, August 18-26
- Bar Institute: Miami August 23-25
- San Francisco Craft Spirits Carnival, August
- Trinidad and Tobago Cocktail Week
- Sacramento Cocktail Week, Sacramento, August 14-18
- San Diego Spirits Festival, August 27-28
September
- Camp Runamok, Bourbon Camp, Lebanon Junction, KY (Session II), September 5-11
- Restaurant and Bar Hong Kong, September 6-8
- Moscow Bar Show, Russia
- Paris of the Plains Cocktail Festival, Kansas City, MO
- California Rum Festival, San Francisco, September 10
- St. Louis Craft Spirits and Cocktail Party, St. Louis, MO
- Nashville Whiskey Fest,
- Kentucky Bourbon Fest, Bardstown, KY
- Milwaukee Cocktail Week
- Sydney Bar Week, Australia, September 17-20
- Boutique Bar Show, London
- WhiskeyFest San Francisco:September 23rd
- Bar Institute: Portland Sept. 25-27
- Whiskies of the World Austin: September 29th
October
- Cayman Cocktail Week
- Whiskies of the World Houston: October 1st
- Whisky Show, London, UK, October 1-2
- London Cocktail Week, UK, October 5-11
- Great American Beer Festival, Denver, October 6-8
- Art of the Cocktail, Calgary, Canada
- Bar Convent Berlin, Germany, October 11-12
- German Rum Festival, Berlin, October 15-16
- Bristol Cocktail Week, UK, October 17-23
- Whiskies of the World Atlanta: October 22nd
- Super Bar, Milan, Italy
- The Rum Experience, London, UK (Boutique Rumfest for Trade), October 22-23
- Boutique Bar Show, Edinburgh, Scotland
- Prague Bar Show, Czech Republic
- MUDL Live, Cape Town, South Africa
- Great American Distillers Festival
- Craft Distilling Expo, London, UK
- Cocktail and Spirits, Hong Kong
November
- Athens Bar Show, Greece
- Whisky Live,Los Angeles
- Craft Spirits & Beer, Miami
- Bar Institute: NYC Nov. 6-10
December
WhiskeyFest New York: December 1st
Hope this helps! Looking forward to a fun and boozy 2016. And to those of you putting on these awesome events, if you’re hosting any cocktail weeks or conferences and your name isn’t on this list, feel free to shoot us an email or comment below.
Cheers!
