Cheer on your favourite bartenders while learning about Vancouver Cocktail Week and supporting the Australian bushfire relief efforts
Vancouver’s favourite high-speed bartending competition returns on January 26, and this time it’s both a launch party for Vancouver Cocktail Week and a fundraiser for Australian bushfire relief.
Many members of the B.C. bartending community hail from the land Down Under; many others have worked or visited there. None of us have been left unmoved by the fires ravaging the country. Already it is estimated that 28 people have died, 10 million hectares burned and a billion animals killed. The devastation is heartbreaking.
So, as The Alchemist prepares to launch Vancouver Cocktail Week 2021, we are proud to partner with Barate Kid in this fundraiser for relief efforts—which is only fitting, as January 26 also happens to be Australia Day.
If you’ve never attended Barate Kid, you’ve been missing out on one of the most exciting cocktail events in the city. Started in 2011 by Vancouver bartenders Keenan Hood and David Greig, Barate Kid has become one of Canada’s premier speed bartending tournaments.
It’s organized in a tournament bracket format, with eight bartenders sorted into heats to compete head-to-head as they knock out classic cocktails as fast and deliciously as possible in a real bar scenario. The competition prizes speed, of course, but taste, quality and style are just as important, as is the Barate Kid mantra: Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy.
The winner will take home a generous cash prize and bragging rights, which are, of course, priceless.
Meanwhile, we invite everyone to come down and cheer on your favourite bartenders, and to learn what’s in the works for Vancouver Cocktail Week 2021, the city’s biggest and best cocktail event, all while supporting the relief efforts.
Barate Kid will donate proceeds from cocktail auctions, 50-50 draw, door donations and silent auctions to bushfire relief efforts in the Northern Victoria region, one of the hardest hit by the wildfires. Although entry is free, we ask that guests donate $10 at the door to the Upper Murray CFA Fire relief fund.
Barate Kid 2020—Australia Day Bushfire Relief Edition is presented by Vancouver Cocktail Week and The Alchemist magazine, with special thanks to our sponsors Lot 40 Rye, Absolut, Havana Club, Bruichladdich, The Botanist, Mount Gay, Bulleit, Cazadores, Campari and Cinzano.
The event gets underway at 3 p.m., Sunday, January 26, at The Granville Room (competitors are asked to be on site from 2 p.m. onward). The deadline for bartender signup is 11:59 a.m. PST on January 17.
To enter the draw to compete, visit facebook.com/baratekid/.
For tickets, click here.
Links for additional, tax-deductible donations can be found here:
www.redcross.org.au/campaigns/disaster-relief-and-recovery-donate
—by Joanne Sasvari
