World Class Cocktail Festival takes over Sydney

The nation’s best bartending talent will flock to Sydney later this month for the World Class Cocktail Festival, which will take place across the city from 28 April until 2 May.

At present, seven of the World’s Top 100 Bars are in Australia, and each one of these will be representing themselves within the festival lineup. The program is intended to provide the Australian hospitality industry – and the world – a glimpse into what is to be expected when the world’s most prestigious cocktail competition, Global Bartender of the Year, comes to Sydney in 2022.

On 27 April, the best bartenders in the country are invited to compete in the Australian World Class Bartender of the Year competition. The winner from this will move on to represent Australia in the global World Class Bartender of the Year finals, to be held virtually in July.

Paramount House in Surry Hills is to act as the main stage of the World Class Cocktail Festival this year, with events spilling out into nearby venues, including a number of events within the moody bar at Golden Age Cinema.

As well as straight-up cocktail-making, the festival will also foster a number of interesting hospitality partnerships. For instance, the team at cult burger venue Butter will be teaming up with CÎROC vodka to create a limited edition Butter Fried Chicken (fat wash) CÎROC martini.

One of the highlights will be the closing night party at Maybe Sammy in The Rocks, which currently places 11th on the World’s 50 Best Bars list. The bar team there will be hosting a Spanish-themed closing party called Maybe Sevilla.

More venues and activations will be announced in the weeks leading up to the event.