Prepare your livers, the biggest cocktail festival in Asia returns. By Holly Graham.

For the second year running, Asia’s 50 Best Bars will host its annual awards ceremony at Singapore’s Capitol Theatre, with the 2019 edition unfolding on May 9 to celebrate the best of the region’s bars and cocktail culture. As has been custom for the last three years, the ceremony will be followed by Singapore Cocktail Festival from May 10 to 18, with a host of international bar talent and takeovers descending on Singapore.

Now in its fourth year, last year’s edition of Asia’s 50 Best Bars saw Manhattan take the top spot for the second year running. The ranking is determined by votes from 200 industry figures, who each name seven favourite bars they’ve visited in the last 18 months. Following the ceremony and afterparty will be the #50BestTalks discussion forum on May 10, led by an all-female panel made up of Sasha Wijidessa (Operation Dagger, Singapore), Victoria Chow (The Woods, Hong Kong), Bannie Kang (Anti:dote, Singapore) and Pinsuda PongProm (The Bamboo Bar, Bangkok) discussing “Female Spirit” – check out DRiNK on March 6 for more on this.

The fifth edition of the 10-day SGCF will return to the Empress Lawn in front of Victoria Theatre Concert Hall, with DRiNK collaborating with Singapore’s legendary industry friend Moses Koh (if you know, you know) to create the ultimate calendar of events, to be published on DRiNK in early May and constantly updated. This year’s SGCF will also see the launch of the #SGCFBarAcademy, a series of panels and discussions led by members of the bar community, plus the Barstylez International Bartender Championship with over 60 bartenders from over 25 countries competing.

Early bird tickets are on sale here priced at SGD$30 (usual price: SGD$35) for a one-day pass and one welcome drink.


Please send all SGCF events, panels, guestshifts and more to holly(at)drinkmagazine.asia