Rub shoulders with international bar stars and brand ambassadors at Vancouver Cocktail Week
Hisatsugu Saito mixes cocktails at the Nikka bar at 2024’s Green Garden Gala. Living Room Creative photo
Stop in for cinq à sept at one of Vancouver Cocktail Week’s participating bars and you never know who might be perched on the bar stool next to yours. It might be an out-of-town cocktail lover, a global brand ambassador or a rock star bartender from overseas. Hanging out with VCW visitors is one of the most exciting aspects of the whole week.
Here are just a few bar stars we know will be in town, and where you can see them — note that many will also be at the Black and White Gala.
Can’t decide what events to go to? Start with these
Experience top brands’ cocktail creations at Vancouver Cocktail Week. Living Room Creative photo
Each year there are those cocktail week events that you find yourself telling your friends about over and over—or that you forever regret having missed out on. Here are five that will be all the buzz this year; if you don’t have your tickets yet, what are you waiting for?
This year’s VCW event lineup proves that great cocktails and great food go hand in hand.
Living Room Creative photo
Vancouver Cocktail Week isn’t just about the drinks—it’s a full sensory experience where food plays just as much of a starring role.
From March 2 to 9, 2025, VCW will offer plenty of ways for food lovers to indulge, from cocktail-paired dinners to whisky tastings and creative twists on afternoon tea. Whether it’s a multi-course Italian feast, an exploration of Japanese hanami traditions, or a deep dive into agave spirits, this year’s lineup proves that great cocktails and great food go hand in hand.
Presented by The Alchemist—a sibling publication to V.I.A.—VCW 2025 will bring together some of the city’s top chefs, bartenders, and international guests for a week of immersive dining experiences.
Here’s a selection of standout VCW events where the food is just as exciting as the cocktails.
The most fashionable cocktails prove that more is more
At Minami in Toronto, cocktails like the Buena Vista are served with presentation as luxe as the ingredients. Photo courtesy of Minami
Something has shifted in drinks lately. Indulgence and excess have been the operative trends, shown off in drinks that are over-the-top, party-starting and a little bit naughty.
Martinis, icy, high-ABV and garnished with an olive, are on every cocktail menu in the country. They’re unavoidable on Instagram—perched in influencers’ hands like a new Fendi bag.
The city’s best party returns March 2 to 9 with more than 40 events, dozens of spirit brands and VCW-partner venues all across the city.
Living Room Creative photo
With fewer than 30 days left until the fourth annual Vancouver Cocktail Week presented by The Alchemist magazine, it’s time to nail down your tickets for the best seminars, most exciting pop-ups and unmissable signature events like the closing Black & White Gala.
VCW25’s schedule is packed with more than 40 events, starting with the traditional Signature Sunday Cocktail Brunch (this year at ARC Restaurant at the Fairmont Waterfront) and featuring seminars, tastings, master classes, parties and burlesque and drag shows. Plus there are cocktail-paired dinners, tea parties and other culinary events, including the Cherry Blossom Tipsy Tea at Notch 8 in the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver and the “Festa della Primavera” dinner at Carlino.
And that doesn’t even include the popular (unticketed) Cinq à Sept series of elevated happy hours, which will be held at VCW partnering bars all over town.
In fact, one of the best ways to discover those venues and explore the city’s talented cocktail culture is by joining one of the neighbourhood cocktail crawls that offer a taste of what the city’s most exciting bartenders are shaking up.
But if there is one event not to miss, it’s the closing night Black & White Gala on March 9. The signature event of Vancouver Cocktail Week will be held in the gorgeous Spanish Ballroom at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia and features live music, a DJ, elevated bar snacks, more than two dozen premium brand sponsors and, of course, more cocktail creativity than you could fit into a bootlegger’s bathtub.
And, because no celebration of community can go without supporting those who make it possible, Vancouver Cocktail Week is proud to announce that a portion of ticket sales will go to our charity partner, Mind The Bar, a Vancouver-based organization that supports mental health wellness in the hospitality industry across Canada.
Tickets for Vancouver Cocktail Week presented by The Alchemist are now on sale. For tickets or to browse the Vancouver Cocktail Week 2025 program guide, visit thealchemistmagazine.ca/vcw/. A print version of the program guide is also available at bars, restaurants and private liquor retailers around Vancouver.
How restaurants and bars collaborate with craft distillers to create custom sips
The Banda Volpi amaro was created in partnership with Arbutus Distillery. Ian Lanterman photo
Vancouver hotspots like Osteria Elio Volpe and Caffè La Tana are authentically Italian, down to the tomatoes in the sugo. Yet your after-dinner limoncello might come from Esquimalt and your dark, bitter amaro from Nanaimo. The Banda Volpi restaurant group collaborates with B.C. distillers to create bespoke bottlings for its restaurants, and its “passion for creating and growing with our community is reflected in every bottle,” says group co-founder Paul Grundberg.
