Bacardi & Opera Bar team up with 10 Sydney bars for a cocktail festival this November

All the participating bartenders. Photographed by Hugh O’Brien

Sydney’s iconic Opera Bar, in collaboration with Bacardi Martini Australia, is set to host the inaugural Sydney Cocktail Festival – a three-day harbourside celebration of our city’s great small bars, the incredible cocktails they create, and the talented people who make them.

Bartenders from 10 of Sydney’s most innovative cocktail bars, including PS40, Double Deuce Lounge, and Mjølner, take over Opera Bar from Friday 13 through to Sunday 15 November. There are five sessions held over the weekend, with each featuring four different bars and their star bartenders. This creative bunch will each be serving up two cocktails made with spirits from the Bacardi range – a signature drink as well as an exclusive creation available just for the Sydney Cocktail Festival.

Photographed by Hugh O’Brien

Tickets include three cocktails, or six half serves for those who just can’t choose. So, sip summer with a ‘Mango Weis Bar daiquiri’ by the Jacoby’s Tiki Bar team or a ‘Melody’ by Old Mate’s Place. Get your dose of greens with Rosenbaum & Fuller’s ‘Leafy Greens’ cocktail (42 Below vodka, olive leaf, vermouth, green apple and fennel honey) or savour the ‘Rock ‘n’ Pop’ from Burrow Bar (Patrón Silver tequila, chamomile, Martini Bianco, manzanilla sherry, rockmelon, soda).

Opera Bar’s beverage manager, Steve Davis, explains: “It’s been a challenging year for everyone in hospitality, so Opera Bar wanted to give some of our city’s best small bars a harbourfront stage for a weekend. We’re so lucky to have an incredible cocktail scene in Sydney and this is a rare chance to see these bars and bartenders in one place – we can’t wait!”

Cosmo Soto & Ollie Churcher from Double Deuce Lounge. Photographed by Hugh O’Brien

Cocktails are not the only thing mixing over the weekend, with a series of DJs including The Dark Horse and Amy Chase hitting the decks. Bacardi Martini Australia also takes over a space at Opera Bar to host drinks tastings and showcase new products with a few surprises thrown in for good measure.

Sydney Cocktail Festival at Opera Bar schedule:

Session one: Friday 13 November, 6pm-9pm

  • Grandma’s – Jono Carr; Burrow Bar – Chau Tran and Bryce McDonough; Old Mate’s Place – Daniel Noble and Dre Walters; Door Knock – Natalie Ng

Session two: Saturday 14 November, 1pm-4pm

  • The Roosevelt – Benjamin Hickey; Jacoby’s Tiki Bar – Adrian Sanchez; Mjølner – Sofia Serje; Grandma’s – Jono Carr

Session three: Saturday 14 November, 5pm-8pm

  • Jacoby’s Tiki Bar – Adrian Sanchez; Mjølner – Sofia Serje; Old Mate’s Place – Daniel Noble and Dre Walters; Burrow Bar – Chau Tran and Bryce McDonough

Session four: Sunday 15 November, 1pm-4pm

  • PS40 – Michael Chiem; Double Deuce Lounge – Cosmo Soto and Olly Churcher; Rosembaum & Fuller – Lee Potter Cavanagh; Door Knock – Natalie Ng

Session five: Sunday 15 November, 5pm-8pm

  • Double Deuce Lounge – Cosmo Soto and Olly Churcher; Rosembaum & Fuller – Lee Potter Cavanagh; The Roosevelt – Benjamin Hickey; PS40 – Michael Chiem

Tickets and tables are now open for bookings via the Opera Bar website. Tables must be booked as a minimum of two, with configurations of four, six, and eight also available. There will be tickets for walk-ins so if sold out online, they can be purchased on the day at Opera Bar.

Leafy Greens Cocktail by Rosenbaum & Fuller. Photographed by Hugh O’Brien

Sydney Cocktail Festival at Opera Bar

Friday 13 – Sunday 15 November

$49 per person which includes 6 x half cocktail serves or 3 x full cocktails

Bookings via operabar.com.au/cocktail-festival

Table bookings are a minimum of two, with four, six, and eight also available. This is a seated event.

Session times:

Friday 13 November: 6pm to 9pm

Saturday 14 November: 1pm to 4pm; 5pm to 8pm

Sunday 15 November: 1pm to 4pm; 5pm to 8pm