According to PRNewswire, The Manhattan Cocktail Classic, New York City’s annual five-day celebration of cocktails and culture, is gearing up once again for the third annual festival taking place May 11-15, 2012. Anticipating over 10,000 attendees and attracting top-tier mixologists from around the globe, this decadent, booze-fueled flurry of nearly 100 parties, pairings, tastings, and educational events is not to be missed. Tickets go on sale March 15 at noon.
The soon-to-be-revealed festival calendar includes some ambitious additions on deck for 2012, in addition to the flagship events that have defined the Classic so far. The legendary opening night Gala will once again take over the New York Public Library, filling the storied halls with over 3,500 well-dressed guests, over 40,000 hand-crafted cocktails and more merriment and mayhem than ever before. Tickets will remain at the same $150 price point as last year.
The days will be filled with a plethora of intimate educational events: seminars, tastings, cocktail demos, culinary pairings—all taking place in some of New York City’s greatest bars and restaurants, mainly in Manhattan, but also in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. Tickets will range in price from $25 to $125.
For festival-goers looking for something on par with the opening night Gala to fill their Saturday night plans, the latest addition to the Classic calendar is perhaps the most exciting. On Saturday, May 12 from 9pm to 1am, The Classic Night Out will take over the Meatpacking District in Lower Manhattan, bringing six city blocks to life with dozens upon dozens of events: pop-up cocktail bars in fashion retail meccas; spontaneous speakeasies in spas and salons; rollicking live music in the cobblestone streets—all part of one night, one ticket, one experience.
“Cocktail culture has deep roots in the fashion world, and it’s going to be terrific fun to bring that theme to life through the Classic Night Out,” says Lesley Townsend, the festival’s founder and director. “Beyond that, it’s just been so amazing to witness an entire neighborhood come together around one of our events. With this much positive energy and community support, it’s bound to be a truly incredible evening,”
Other marquee events are slated for Sunday and Monday nights, including an aperitivo cocktail competition sponsored by Campari and the USBG, and a most notable performance of Sleep No More sponsored by Bowmore Single Malt Scotch Whisky.
The final new addition to the festival is an enormous expansion of the industry-oriented programming. While the Classic has been a destination event for hospitality industry professionals from the get-go, this year the festival is establishing a proper five-day “Industry Invitational” running parallel to the public events. Hosted at the Andaz 5th Avenue Hotel, the invitational will be open to hospitality industry professionals and media, and will comprise a diverse calendar of events and activities: lectures, panel discussions, technology demos, networking opportunities, exclusive tastings, cocktail competitions, and a preview of the Classic Bar Show.
Visit www.manhattancocktailclassic.com for more information.
