AJABU, Africa’s first bi-annual international cocktail and spirits festival, has revealed the official line-up of participating bars, community brunches, tasting panels and celebrations, which will take place in South Africa in March. The festival will take place in Cape Town between 14 and 17 March.
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AJABU, curated by Colin Asare Appiah (Bar World 100 Most Influential Figures 2023 and co-author of Black Mixcellence) and Mark Talbot Holmes (founder of multiple award-winning U’Luvka Vodka), aims to be Africa’s leading spirits and cocktail festival.
It will not only bring together the hospitality industry and its communities across Africa and beyond, but it will also inspire innovation, collaboration and creativity while celebrating the continent’s incredible diversity of people, ingredients and beverages.
The inaugural festival will feature bartenders from internationally acclaimed bars such as Allegory (Washington DC), Front/Back (Accra), Hero Bar (Nairobi), Rayo (Mexico City), Sweet Liberty (Miami), and Trailer Happiness (London).
These global bars will team up with the following exceptional local bars to provide exquisite cocktail experiences over two nights: Cause Effect, Fable, Talking to Strangers, The Drinkery, The House of Machines, and Tjing Tjing in Cape Town.
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‘We’re incredibly excited to be bringing the teams from such world acclaimed bars to South Africa, who will work alongside equally outstanding local establishments for this series of innovative industry events,’ says Asare Appiah.
Tickets to the festival are free, but registration is required because space is limited. In addition to a series of Community Brunches and Tasting Tables, AJABU will hold a number of special events in each city.
In Cape Town, Ian Burrell, renowned rum ambassador and IWSC Spirits Communicator of the Year 2023, will lead a masterclass. Kurt Schlechter, an AJABU partner and industry legend, will be celebrating his 50th birthday, and the local and global bar communities will join him.
Pernod Ricard’s SIP, an upskilling and educational programme, will be launched in South Africa with dedicated seminars in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Attendees will participate in community-building groups to discuss menu design and storytelling, seasonal ingredients, cocktail trends, techniques and technology.
Charlotte Voisey, Global Head of Ambassadors for William Grant and Sons, will attend and support the festival’s activities.
Quicket allows you to register for festival tickets. In November, Ajabu will partner with the Cape Town Beverage Show to host another week-long event in both cities.
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Picture: kofookoo.de/Unsplash
