Old Fashioned Week launches internationally

A week-long festival dedicated to promoting and celebrating the Old Fashioned cocktail will return next month with a global presence for the first time.

From 14-22 October, bars around the world will host Old Fashioned Week through a number of events, masterclasses and activations in collaboration with affiliated brands.

The festival first launched in 2015 based on an initiative of the Maria Loca bar in Paris and Cyrille Hugon, founder of Rhum Fest Paris and Rumporter Magazine, but it has now been transformed from an exclusive French event to a global cocktail festival.

While it is open to all establishments around the world that “lay claim to quality cocktail culture”, the event has a focus on five targeted regions: the UK, France, Spain, Italy and Benelux, which all have a dedicated Old Fashioned Week ambassador.

“This is an event made by bartenders to educate customers on one of the most iconic cocktails, which is almost unknown to most people,” says Michael Landart, co-founder and bar manager at Maria Loca in Paris and Old Fashioned Week ambassador in France.

“The cocktail scene is growing year after year and people are getting more and more interested in what they drink, but when you ask them what cocktails they know or what’s a classic cocktail, most people reply with Mojito, Caipirinha, Piña Colada and they almost never say Old Fashioned, Manhattan, or Negroni.

“That’s why Cyrille, his associate Anne Gisselbrecht and I decided to create an event dedicated to the Old Fashioned because, for me and most other spirit lovers, there is no other cocktail that better enhances a good spirit than this one. That’s why Old Fashioned Week is different.”

Bars can register to take part in the festival by visiting the revamped website old-fashioned-week.com, which is now available to view in both French and English.

They are asked to submit at least two Old Fashioned cocktail recipes using two partner spirits brands – of which there is one for each relevant spirit category.

All recipes must contain Angostura Bitters – the official bitters brand of Old Fashioned Week. Other partner spirit brands include Havana Club, Woodford Reserve, Monkey Shoulder and Rhum HSE.

This year’s festival is also promoting a charitable cause, with donations collected by the organisers sent to The Isla Foundation – an NGO based in Nicaragua that endeavours to provide better working conditions to cane cutters in the global sugar industry.