Lovers of fine drinking and craft cocktails can rejoice as The Bar Awards returns to Hong Kong with an epic line-up of parties and events to keep us merry this May. As the official media partner, the Localiiz team couldn't wait to give you the lowdown on what's in store this year.
Now in its third year, The Bar Awards aims to help develop and grow the Asia wide bar community by celebrating achievements in Asia’s leading bar and beverage capitals. Luckily for us, that means the organisers have a whole box of tricks up their sleeve, including over 25 cocktail parties for everyone to enjoy across Hong Kong and Macau from
16 to 22 May 2018.
Naturally, as media partners, we couldn't wait to share the exciting line-up with our readers. So brace yourselves, people, because May is about to get boozy!
What's in Store?
New Additions — Macau's Best Bars and Bartenders
This year The Bar Awards is adding a couple of new aspects to the festival. Apart from selecting
Localiiz as the official media partner for the entire festival, (yay!), the organisers are adding a Macau leg to the Hong Kong celebrations to recognise the growing Macau bar scene and amazing individual talents across the pond. This year, Macau will have two categories of its own: Bartender of the Year - Macau, presented by Hendrick’s, and Bar of the Year - Macau, presented by GH Mumm Champagne. Watch this space for the best bars and bartenders Macau has to offer!
The Bar Awards Opening Party — May 17
Held at Lily & Bloom on Thursday 17 May from 6pm, The Bar Awards Opening Party invites Hong Kongers to drink the best cocktails from all over Asia without leaving their seat. Among the line-up of eight international bars on the night, are the likes of Singapore’s cocktail powerhouses
Nutmeg & Clove,
28 Hong Kong Street (Bar of the Year 2014, 2015 and 2016), and
Manhattan Bar (Bar of the Year 2017). Party goers won't want to miss Kuala Lumpur’s Most Creative Cocktail Program 2017 winner
Omakase + Appreciate and Bangkok’s Best Hotel Bar and Best Bangkok Institution 2017 winner,
The Bamboo Bar. What better way to kick start the cocktail festival!
![](https://www.localiiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/carnival.jpg)
The Cocktail Carnival — May 19
The event that you really don’t want to miss is the inaugural Cocktail Carnival on Saturday May 19. Held at Strokes in Causeway Bay, the carnival offers an entire day of magic, music, crazy golf and cocktails for “kids” of all ages. The Bar Awards recommends to have a cocktail made by one the finest bars in Asia (we’re talking
61 Monarchy from Kuala Lumpur and a brand new bar from Yangon, Myanmar, known as
The Penthouse). With a cocktail in your hand, guests can try a round of Strokes’ signature crazy golf, or if that's a little too whacky (pun intended), they can chill out and take in the music, the free magic show, request their very own balloon animal pet, or indulge in one of Strokes’ various giant versions of their favourite board games with their friends. And the best part? The Cocktail Carnival is completely
FREE to enter!
Macau's Biggest Cocktail Event — May 19
If you happen to find yourself in Macau on Saturday 19 May, then make sure to pop down to Vida Rica (Mandarin Oriental Macau) from 9pm as they play host to four of the best cocktail bars in Asia for Macau’s biggest cocktail event! Indulge in cocktails by
Oto and The Curator from Manila,
Omakase + Appreciate from Kuala Lumpur,
The Bamboo Bar, and
#FindTheLockerRoom (Best New Bar 2017) from Bangkok.
![](https://www.localiiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/bar-awards-2.jpg)
The Official After Party — May 20
Want to know who Hong Kong’s 12 best bars and bartenders are? The winners will be announced on
Sunday May 20 in an exclusive F&B industry only event but not to worry, because you can still celebrate with them at the official after party held at Employees Only from
10pm. The gossip we heard from last year's after party is that Employees Only took full advantage of their 24 hour license, so we're pretty sure this is an after party not to miss!
Want to know more?
For a full list of other various events in Hong Kong and Macau, download the full calendar
here. Visit the
Facebook page for more information.
[button color="blue" size="medium" link="https://localiiz.us4.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=c2964a434922598f5d8ee53ff&id=07d327a2e8" icon="" target="true"]Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter[/button]