Arriving in Venice, and thanks to the support of Aman Venice, the festival will follow the same structure as Florence, with a week dedicated to the city’s vibrant bar and cocktail scene. During this time, hotel bars, cocktail bars and historic cafés will unite to demonstrate their talents and promote responsible drinking culture. Furthermore, themed nights and masterclasses from visiting bartenders will take place, along with recreational activities celebrating Venetian culture that will allow guests to discover the city in a new light.
The festival was founded by Paola Menccarelli, a celebrated journalist hailing from Tuscany who has immersed herself in the food and wine of her region her whole life. As a journalist, she managed to combine her passion with professional writing, contributing to the likes of Gambero Rosso and collaborating with the Gambero Rosso Gastronomic Guide. Her passion for art presented her with the opportunity to organise the Grani & Pani forum as part of the World Expo in Milan 2015, and she founded the first Florence Cocktail Week, successfully steering the festival into its sixth year and establishing it as the most essential Italian cocktail week. In addition to this, she has also established the Tuscany Cocktail Week in 2019 and the Venice Cocktail Week, which will launch in December 2021.
“In this extraordinary year, we have not given up, and we have decided to double up by bringing our Cocktail Week format to Venice,” says the event’s Founder & Creative Director, Paola Mencarelli. “It will be an unusual edition for this event, our first ever event in winter, but we will warm up this splendid city of art and culture at the sound of shakers and cocktails.”
The festival format provides each participating cocktail bar with the opportunity to create a bespoke Cocktail List using the products of Sponsor Brands. During the week, some of the activities will include an opening and closing party, educational afternoons with meetings, seminars and masterclasses to shine a light on the knowledge and use of products within bartending techniques. Evening entertainment will consist of themed events and parties with guest bartenders selected from among the best of the international bartending scene.
SELECTED PARTICIPANTS INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO…
- Alchemia | Ca’ di Dio
- Amo | Fondaco dei Tedeschi
- Arts Bar | The St. Regis Venice
- Bar Gabbiano | Cipriani, A Belmond Hotel, Venice
- Bar Longhi | The Gritti Palace
- Blue Bar | Hotel Excelsior
- Blue Drop
- Caffè Baglioni | Baglioni Hotel Luna
- Caffè Florian
- Caffè Lavena
- Chet Bar
- ChicBar | Taverna La Fenice
- Dandolo | Hotel Danieli
- Excess Venice Cocktail Food & Garden
- Experimental Cocktail Club | Il Palazzo Experimental
- Grancaffé Quadri
- Il Caravellino | Hotel Saturnia & International
- Il Mercante
- Londrabar | Hotel Londra Palace
- Palazzina The Bar | Palazzina Grassi
- San Giorgio Cafè
- Tarnowska’s American Bar
- Terrazza Aperol
- The Bar | Aman Venice
- Time Social Bar
- Skyline Rooftop Bar
- Hilton Molino Stucky Venice
–
To find out more and for updates and additions of participating cocktail bars, follow this link.
Images © in order of appearance: Israel Ferrera; Veronica Gaido; Michele Tamasco; Michele Tamasco; Michele Tamasco