About Cocktail Week
Cocktail Week started in Dundee in 2022 to help hospitality bounce back after Covid. Since then we have run 55 Cocktail Weeks with over 1,100 bars and restaurants in 23 towns and cities across the UK and Ireland. That is over 140,000 wristbands and over £10 million added to local hospitality.
Why we started
Getting people out of the house and through a door is what we have always done.
We ran Liqwed at the famous Fat Sams in Dundee, Scotland's biggest student night, then spent years working in nightlife and hospitality, filling venues week in, week out. We know what brings a crowd and what makes people try somewhere new.
When bars and restaurants reopened after Covid, they needed people back. So we built an event around the venues themselves: one wristband, a signature cocktail created by every bar taking part and ten days to explore the town.
Every venue also makes a signature mocktail, so everyone can join in. Over 1,700 signature cocktails so far, every one created by the venue itself. We bring the customers.
How it grew
We started in Dundee, the city we know best, with 44 venues in October 2022. The next spring we crossed the bridge to Fife for St Andrews. From there we took what worked to towns and cities across the UK and Ireland, and we have now worked with over 1,100 venues.
SunderlandInvernessYorkDunfermlineNottinghamDublinLeedsCardiffBelfast
Where we run
Each pin is a town or city where Cocktail Week has run. Tap one to see what is on there next. We also run the Glasgow Cocktail Festival.
Why it matters
Wristband holders plan their week around the line-up, so venues meet people who have never been through the door before.
Ten days of extra trade for every venue taking part, often at times of year when hospitality is usually quieter.
Big screens, printed guides, social ads, email and local press put every venue in front of people across the town.
added to hospitality across the UK and Ireland since 2022.
A fantastic increase in footfall during a quiet period for the trade with lots of businesses benefitting from new customers.MacCallums Bar, manager, after Inverness Cocktail Week 2026
Leeds Cocktail Week created a great buzz around the city, getting people out to try new places and giving local hospitality businesses a real boost.Hilton Leeds City, after Leeds Cocktail Week 2026
It brought a noticeable uplift in footfall. We welcomed plenty of new guests who discovered us through the event.Colonel Porter's, after Newcastle Cocktail Week October 2025
It's been great to see the positive impact Sunderland Cocktail Week has had on local businesses, especially at a time when trade is traditionally quieter at the start of the year.The Manor Bar & Sloanes Sports Bar, owner, after Sunderland Cocktail Week 2026
Sheffield Cocktail Week is the best thing we've done since opening our doors 8 months ago.Pad 12, owner, after Sheffield Cocktail Week 2025
We definitely experienced a higher foot flow of customers all relating to cocktail week.The Wiley Fox, general manager, after Dublin Cocktail Week 2026
Partners and sponsors
Every Cocktail Week is backed by partners: drinks brands that supply the bars, BIDs and councils that want their town centre busy, and hotels, travel and media partners that bring people in. Partners get their name in front of everyone planning a night out, on the guide, the website, the big screens and in the bars themselves.
Drinks partner
Drinks partner
Drinks partner
Mixer partner
Gin partner
Vodka partner
Location partner · Manchester
Location partner · Manchester
Location partner · Sunderland
Location partner · Inverness
Location partner · Cork
Location partner · Reading
Location partner · Derry
Location partner · Cheltenham
Location partner · Coventry
Location partner · Perth
Hotel partner · Manchester
Hotel partner · St Andrews
Travel partner · Sheffield
Travel partner · Sheffield
Travel partner
Travel partner · Belfast
Hotel partner · Manchester · in 2026
Hotel partner · Reading · in 2026
Hotel partner · Leeds · in 2026
Partner · Liverpool, Manchester
Partner · Newcastle
Event partner · Dublin · in 2026
Event partner · Belfast · in 2026
Event partner · York
Safety partnerDrinks brands, BIDs, councils, hotels and media partners: tell us what you'd like to do and which towns.
Who we are
Cocktail Week is run by M.AD Agency Ltd, a marketing agency based in Dundee. Alice Christison and Ross McGregor set it up in 2021, bringing together years of filling nightclubs, bars and restaurants.
We think of Cocktail Week as a footfall campaign rather than a festival. The bars and restaurants host and pour. We bring the customers: the wristbands, the guide, the ads, the screens, the emails and the press that get a whole town out for ten days.
Alongside Cocktail Week we run the Glasgow Cocktail Festival, and we work with drinks brands, BIDs, councils and hotels on campaigns built around their venues and their town.
Founder of Cocktail Week and director, M.AD Agency
Alice created Cocktail Week to celebrate and support hospitality after Covid. She works closely with the venues and brand partners in every town, so each event reflects what makes that town's bar scene its own.
Director, M.AD Agency
Ross co-founded M.AD Agency with Alice in 2021. He is also the creator of the Venom, Scotland's luminous green pint, which he first made in Glasgow in 2008.
Local bars and restaurants register for their town's Cocktail Week and create a signature cocktail and a mocktail.
We sell the wristbands and promote the week and every venue in it, online, in print and in the local press.
After every event we survey wristband holders and venues. Their favourites and their comments go into a look back for each town, like Manchester 2026.
In towns where we have run Cocktail Week, our best cocktail bar guides list only the venues that took part.
Cocktail Week is for people aged 18 and over. Every venue taking part offers a signature mocktail, and we follow the UK drinks marketing rules on how cocktails are named and shown. For the facts about alcohol, visit drinkaware.co.uk (or drinkaware.ie in Ireland).
Bring your venue into your town's next Cocktail Week. We will tell you how it works and what it costs.
Cocktail Week® is a registered trade mark of M.AD Agency Ltd.
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