Medellín Cocktail Week returns with social impact drive
The second edition of Colombia’s Medellín Cocktail Week will take place from 1 to 5 June 2026, with bartenders from 29 cities attending.
Juan David Zapata, the founder of the city’s Mamba Negra bar and beverage brand Juniper Drinks, is behind Medellín Cocktail Week.
Visiting guests will host guest shifts at 18 host bars in Medellín, as well as conducting masterclasses to inspire the local bar scene.
Mamba Negra will be the festival’s primary venue. The bar is home to Mamba Lab, a research space that develops a cocktail-centred tasting experience crafted entirely with Colombian ingredients.
Seminars will take place at the city’s Marriott Hotel on 1 and 2 June.
Speakers include: Lorenzo Antinori of Bar Leone in Hong Kong and Shanghai; Erik van Beek of Handshake Speakeasy in Mexico City; Giorgio Bargiani of The Connaught, London; and Lorenzo Querci of Moebius Milano.
South American bartenders in attendance include Gabriela León and Alonso Palomino of Lady Bee in Lima, and Inés de los Santos of CoChinChina in Buenos Aires.
In 2025, 67 bartenders served 7,000 cocktails during Medellín Cocktail Week. Three hundred people worked at 27 events across 18 bars, while 250 people attended seminars.
Giving back
The festival also collaborates with Brindando Sueños (Toasting Dreams), a community education programme for at-risk youth. More than 200 people applied in 2025, with 35 graduating from the course in September and subsequently joining the job placement programme.
One of the conditions of participating and hosting an international bartender at a Medellín host bar is a commitment to mentor a young person during their training or integrate them onto their team.
“Each cocktail served is an experience, each conversation an inspiration, and each encounter an opportunity to celebrate local talent and open doors to a more inclusive and hopeful future,” said Zapata.
“Medellín has gone through a remarkable transformation. It went from being a city stigmatised by violence to one that is now a destination, where creative cuisine and mixology are thriving with ever-lofty standards.
“Medellín Cocktail Week plays a key role in this journey: educating, bringing together leading figures in the industry for a week, and continuing to refine our hospitality.
“The social dimension, which aims to provide opportunities for young people and integrate them into the workforce, is something that keeps our industry united.
“Medellín, today, has one of the strongest scenes on the continent. We’re a community that cares for one another, respectfully and supportively.”
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