We catch up with Alex Nicholson-Evans the founder of Bristol Cocktail Weekend

The weekend allows locals to discover new venues and revisit their favourite bars one cocktail at a time.

The event is brought to the city through a collaboration between Living For The Weekend and Bristol’s Business Improvement District (BID) with the aim of bringing footfall into venues all across the city.

Alex Nicholson-Evans, Founder of Bristol Cocktail Weekend said ‘the promise of the weekend is to explore the city and drink lots of delicious cocktails’

‘Bristol has a really special cocktail scene with two UK top 50 bars and loads of really talented bartenders’.

You can buy a weekend wrist band starting at £10 which allows you to get each participating bars signature drinks for £6, or their £5 alcohol free alternative. The wristband also gives you an information booklet on which bars are participating, along with a map of how to get there.

The concept of the weekend is to encourage locals to enjoy the hospitality industry within their own city. And the weekend certainly does just that. Featuring well known bars such as ‘The Milk Thistle’, ‘Dirty Martini’ and ‘Cosy Club’, to the lesser known bars such as ‘Filthy XIII’, ‘Golden Crane’ and ‘The Wellhead’, there are so many places to visit as part of the cocktail tour.

There is, however, a hint of commercialisation. In order to make your money back on the wrist band, you would need to drink quite a few of the £6 cocktails. Additionally, as every venue only offers one cocktail at the discount there is little chance for choice. There is no way of knowing the featured cocktail in each venue unless you visit it.

Adrian, a customer at Crying Wolf said ‘I like the concept of the weekend. But the discount is not significant enough to feel like you are saving money. The featured cocktail at Crying Wolf is based on Rhubarb and Custard sweets, which I did enjoy, but my partner does not drink dairy so had to get a regular priced cocktail instead’.

That being said, the weekend has brought a buzz to the city and offered locals an excuse to enjoy Bristol’s diverse cocktail scene.