Barcelona wants to consolidate itself as one of the global capitals of contemporary mixology. And it already has its own stage to do so: the fifth edition of the Barcelona Cocktail Fest, which on April 18 and 19 will once again turn Palo Alto into a meeting point for some of the best bars in the world. What started "as a summit, as a meeting of bartenders from Paradiso —The World's 50 Best Bars 2022—", recalls Giacomo Giannotti, has evolved into an international festival capable of attracting talent and public from all over the world.
Giacomo Giannotti has not only been one of the great promoters of the Barcelona cocktail scene in the last decade, but also one of its main connectors with the international circuit. Having arrived in the city fifteen years ago, his career condenses the evolution of Barcelona as a creative destination in the bar scene.
"It's a way of giving back to the industry how well it welcomed me when I arrived in Barcelona," he explains.
Giacomo: "In this edition, we also want to open up to the local public"
From a meeting of bartenders to a city festival
The growth of the festival has been, in Giannotti's own words, almost organic. "From the beginning, I saw that there was a lot of interest from the industry to come and listen and learn." What in its first edition brought together a dozen professionals, soon began to feel small.
"The second year we added more classes, more people… more than 100 people came. People were reaching the door. We needed to take a bigger step."
That leap was also a change of scale and ambition. "We didn't really know what we were getting into: we launched ourselves into Palo Alto. We realized that it was like organizing a festival." Today, with the perspective that five editions provide, the dimension of the project is different: "To organize an event like this you need a year of planning."
The lineup for this edition will bring together some of the most influential cocktail bars in the world, with names such as Alquímico (Cartagena), Himkok (Oslo), Locale Firenze (Florence), Drink Kong (Rome), Lady Bee (Lima), Native (Singapore) or Angelita (Madrid), among others. For two days, the festival will combine ten international pop-ups with a program that includes workshops, live tastings and round tables, as well as a gastronomic offer with food trucks and DJ sessions. A hybrid format that alternates the experiential dimension with professional debate, and that reinforces its vocation as a meeting point for both the industry and the public.
Thinking about the future of the sector
Beyond the spectacle —the ten pop-ups of some of the best cocktail bars in the world, the gastronomic offer or the musical program—, the festival maintains its DNA as a space for reflection on the future of the sector.
It is no coincidence: the event was born under the name of Paradiso Sustainability Summit, and that concern continues to mark its content. "We will talk about how we imagine the bar and cocktail industry of the future: about more responsible wines, cocktails with less alcohol content, human value versus the growth of artificial intelligence."
For two days, international and local professionals will share the stage in talks, tastings and debates that address everything from sustainability to new business models in hospitality.
Barcelona, node of a global network
The international vocation of the festival is not only a matter of the lineup, but of strategic positioning. In a context in which cities such as Athens, Berlin or New York have consolidated their own meetings, Barcelona now seeks to occupy its place. "Barcelona has never had a well-done international cocktail event. And these events are important to position the city, but also to bring the industry together," emphasizes Giannotti.
The festival thus acts as a connection point between global talent and the local scene, reinforcing an identity that goes beyond traditional gastronomy and delves into new forms of urban culture.
Paradiso, ten years setting the pace
"The 2026 edition also has symbolic value: it coincides with the tenth anniversary of Paradiso, one of the projects that has best projected Barcelona on the international map of contemporary mixology. Since its opening in 2016, the bar hidden behind a refrigerator in the Born has not only accumulated accolades, but has also contributed to redefining the city's role within the sector. The Barcelona Cocktail Fest itself can be read as a natural extension of that trajectory.
Through the festival —and now also a book that compiles its philosophy and evolution—, Giannotti articulates a vision that combines creativity, community, and international vocation, placing himself at the forefront of an industry that also builds the city. The Barcelona Cocktail Fest points to new layers of value for Barcelona: talent, knowledge, experience, and culture. Because, beyond the cocktail, the festival showcases Barcelona's capacity to generate ecosystems where creativity becomes industry and hospitality becomes narrative.