Inaugural Shared Spirit festival cancelled
The founders of culture-led whisky festival Shared Spirit have pulled the plug on the inaugural event as it was “not connecting with the audience it was intended for”.
Shared Spirit had been scheduled to take place at St Mary’s Church in Primrose Hill, north London, on 6 June, and was designed for people who ‘don’t do whisky festivals’.
However, in a statement released today (12 May), founders Alina Lau and Helen Foord confirmed the event will no longer go ahead.
“After months of brilliant conversations, brand confirmations and real excitement from across the industry, we’ve made the decision to cancel the inaugural Shared Spirit festival.
“This is not the outcome we wanted. But it is the right one. Shared Spirit was created to explore a simple question: what might a culture‑led whisky experience look like if it were built for people who are curious about whisky but have never seen themselves reflected in traditional whisky festivals?
“As we moved closer to the event, it became clear that despite the extraordinary commitment from brands and partners, the way the event was taking shape was not connecting with the audience it was intended for, in the way it needed to. Rather than push on regardless, we have chosen to cancel the event on 6 June. At this stage, proceeding would have meant delivering something that fell short of the brief we set ourselves. And without the audience the festival was made for, we would not achieve what we set out to do.
“This decision does not come from a lack of belief in the ambition behind Shared Spirit. The last few months have reinforced how much appetite there is for whisky experiences that are led by culture, creativity and people, rather than tradition alone. It instead reflects our belief that genuinely accessible experiences require more than good intentions. They require getting the shape right.”
The organisers confirmed that every ticket holder will receive an automatic full refund, as will every brand that had confirmed to take part in the event.
Lau and Foord said that, to their knowledge, Shared Spirit was due to be the first whisky event in the UK led by women, ethnically diverse and queer founders.
“The industry response has shown there is genuine appetite for whisky to look, feel and behave differently, and a generation of brands ready to back it. None of that goes away with this decision. If anything, the conversations of the last few months have made the case stronger,” they said.
Going forward, the pair said they are “stepping back, not away”.
“Over the coming months, we’ll be working closely with the brands that backed this first attempt, and the audiences we set out to reach, to look properly at what a genuinely accessible and culture-led whisky experience could be. Something honestly built for the people the industry hasn’t reached, in a shape that works for them rather than for us.
“Thank you to everyone who believed in this. The brands, the partners, the ticket holders, the people who wrote to us, the writers who covered us. The idea behind Shared Spirit is bigger than one cancelled date, and we intend to prove it.”
The duo added that Shared Spirit “was never about making money,” and that all of the profit generated from the event was intended to be donated to UK non-profit Equal Measures, which supports equity and access in the drinks and hospitality sector through education and mentorship.
“The cancellation doesn’t change how much that work matters,” they said, adding: “If you’d like to support them directly, you can do so at www.equalmeasuresuk.org/support.”
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