Campari postpones Negroni Week in UK

In the wake of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Campari Group has postponed all of its marketing activities, including Negroni Week, in the UK.

A statement from Campari Group explained: “Following the sad news of Queen Elizabeth II’s passing, and out of respect for Her Majesty the Queen, as a team we have made the decision to postpone Negroni Week in the UK until further notice – as we felt it would be inappropriate to celebrate Negroni Week at this time.”

The company has not announced this publicly on social media or its website, however a spokesperson for Campari Group confirmed that it had informed venues and partners individually about the postponement.

In a letter sent out to ‘valued business partners’ dated 9 September, managing director Brad Madigan confirmed: “We understand Negroni Week is a much-anticipated event for the hospitality industry and the decision on whether to activate this week in your venue(s) is ultimately yours.

“Where you are already activating or committed to an event we will of course support your venue(s) decision.”

Negroni Week is an annual event that was launched by Imbibe Magazine as a celebration to ‘one of the world’s greatest cocktails’. The globally activated celebration aims to raise money for charitable causes around the world via its activations.

Since its conception in 2013, the week-long celebration has grown from 120 participating bars to thousands of venues around the world.

To date, the initiative has raised more than US$3 million for charitable organisations.

The celebrations were scheduled to take place from 12-18 September.

The letter said a new date for Negroni Week will be confirmed “when appropriate”.

The drinks industry has been paying its respects to Her Majesty the Queen since her death on 8 September.