London Cocktail Week will return in October for its 15th anniversary, this time as a not-for-profit business.
Festival co-founders Hannah Sharman-Cox and Siobhan Payne said all funds raised by the initiative will be given to participating bars who can now keep 100% of the revenue.
Sharman-Cox and Payne said: “We trialled running London Cocktail Week as a not-for-profit event in 2023 and are continuing with this promise.
“We have a renewed focus to ensure that London Cocktail Week truly exists to serve the London hospitality scene as well as being a fantastic celebration of what we believe to be the cocktail capital of the world.”
In an interview with Drinks International, Payne added: “Now all the money is going back to the bars, it feels more invested in our community.”
The event will host several acclaimed bars such as Side Hustle, KOL Mezcaleria and the Blue Bar at the Berkeley.
Blue Bar manager, Marcello Cauda said: “We have seen with the LCW we have a larger amount of guests coming into the door, for us as Hotel bar, we want to showcase what we are able to do, and to showcase our beautiful venue, food offering, cocktails, and vibe, also bringing different people that would not usually experience a 5 stars hotel bar.”
Research from the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) shows that between March 2020 and December 2023, a total of 3,011 night-time businesses closed in London and its surrounding boroughs.
In response to London’s night-life decline, festival organisers also hosted their inaugural Futureproofing London Bars event.
The initiative encouraged bartenders and bar owners from the 200-bar line-up to discuss their concerns about the industry to senior officials in a daylong programme in partnership with The Mayor of London’s Office and Diageo GB.
London Cocktail Week wristbands are also part of Payne and Sharman-Cox’s plans to inject much-needed investment into bars across the capital.
Payne and Sharman-Cox explained: “If every bar sold their initial allocation of 100 wristbands it would mean £400,000 into the London bar economy – on top of the millions of pounds that London Cocktail Week has injected through the Signature Cocktail mechanic since 2010.”
Across the week, curated cocktail tours will be held across London’s top bars where signature cocktails have been specially created for £8 to those with a wristband.
The event will take place from October 3 to October 13.
Featured image by Ben Black on Unsplash
