Bartenders and bar operators and owners from across Australia are invited to share knowledge and experience at the inaugural Bartenders’ Weekender, which is taking place in Brisbane in June.
The brainchild of industry experts Penny Sippe and Sam Bygrave the Bartenders’ Weekender is a three-day bar show, centred around bars and bartending and aimed at helping to drive Brisbane’s bar scene to the next level.
“The idea is to get bartenders from around the country to come to Brisbane and give them some education, share knowledge and give them a fun time as well and really to just inspire the next generation that is coming up as well,” Sam told Bars and Clubs.
The Bartenders’ Weekender will take place across Brisbane from Sunday 16 June through to Tuesday 18 June, with the Monday and Tuesday containing a number of masterclasses and talks aimed at sharing and improving knowledge.
Sam added: “We already have a number of speakers lined up from around the country and we’re working on getting a couple of international speakers to come to town and they can either do a presentation or an in-depth interview on stage and explore the particular topics that they are well-versed in.
“We’ve got Jason Williams lined-up, Natalie Ng, Matt Whiley, Stefano Catino and Hayden Lambert are all coming as well, with a few more local speakers as well.”
Sam and myself will also have a chat on stage at some point over the weekender, offering advice on how bartenders and bars can work with the media, how to approach media and how we can work together to provide great content and build profiles.
The weekender will also feature bar takeovers, as you would expect with this kind of bar show, but Sam is hoping to be able to build something a bit different with this weekend.
“We’re really trying to encourage takeovers to be more collaborative, because sometimes with these weeks around the world there is a takeover, but it’s got nothing to do with the home bar where the bartender is from.
“We want to do those home bars justice, so we to set up more collaboration between the bars and get an exchange of ideas. That’s really what it’s all about. Yes, we’ll have some parties and we’re doing the sessions as well but really we want to shine a light on Brisbane.”
There is some more information on the Bartenders’ Weekender website, and Bars and Clubs, along with Boothby Media will keep you up-to-date with everything that you can expect in Brisbane in June. See you there.
Andy Young
