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AJABU’s November programme brings Africa’s brightest bar talent together with leading international drinks names for eight days of bar takeovers, collaborations, education and celebration
Cape Town is getting ready to shake, stir, pour and party as AJABU Cocktail & Spirits Festival returns to the Mother City from 14-22 November 2026, bringing together some of Africa’s most exciting bartenders, bars and drinks brands with talent from around the world.
Founded by Ghanaian bartender and drinks industry leader Colin Asare-Appiah (Bar World’s 100 Most Influential Figures 2023; co-author of Black Mixcellence; Tales of the Cocktail Foundation’s 2025 Spirited Awards® winner for Best U.S. Bar Mentor) and longtime collaborator Mark Talbot Holmes (Founder of U’Luvka Vodka), AJABU takes its name from the Swahili word for ‘something wondrous’ or ‘miraculous’. After Asare-Appiah’s career took him through leading global drinks communities, the pair began exploring how stronger connections could be built across Africa. A 2022 journey through South Africa helped turn that idea into AJABU, with Cape Town as its home.
Africa is not waiting for an invitation. Through AJABU, it is hosting the world. The biannual Pan-African festival has quickly become a cornerstone of Africa’s hospitality industry, creating connections between the continent’s bar community and the international hospitality industry, while putting African talent, ingredients, flavours and ideas center stage. The sixth edition in November builds on AJABU’s foundations with an expanded programme of education, collaborations and again showcasing international and African talent.
The celebration begins with the AJABU Tasting Tables on Saturday, 14 November, before moving across the city for eight days of bar pop-ups, guest shifts, collaborations, masterclasses, seminars, workshops, live music and drinks experiences. Throughout the week, Cape Town’s bars will become meeting points for local and international talent, with visiting bartenders collaborating with local teams to exchange techniques, ideas, ingredients and stories – and make some very good drinks along the way.
Confirmed participants include Johannesburg favourites Sin + Tax, Obscura and Smoking Kills, alongside guest teams and bartenders from Mama Koko’s (Baltimore), Stone and Soil (New York), Bon Vivants (Bahamas), Satan’s Whiskers (London), Cato (London), HERO (Nairobi), Front/Back and No.19 (Accra), Churchill Bar (London), and La Mamounia and Royal Mansour (Marrakesh), among others.
A global drinks community with Africa at its heart
AJABU’s media partner, Drinks International, connects the festival with the global drinks trade, helping bring Africa’s bar community, stories and ideas to an international audience. Following the March 2026 edition, which attracted approximately 2,000 attendees, AJABU expects the expanded November programme to draw an even larger audience of local and international visitors into bars and venues across Cape Town.
This year’s festival also brings a particularly delicious piece of Cape Town drinks history full circle. In 2001, Asare-Appiah visited the city with fellow Ghanaian bartender Douglas Ankrah and opened the iconic LAB bar on the site now occupied by Chingadas Mexican Cantina. Ankrah would later create the Porn Star Martini in London, developing the modern classic from an idea inspired by a night at the newly opened Mavericks. Twenty-five years after its creation, AJABU will celebrate that legacy throughout the festival, with participating bars serving their own interpretations of the Porn Star Martini for half price – giving imbibers a chance to experience a piece of cocktail history through an AJABU lens.
AJABU Tasting Tables – Saturday, 14 November
AJABU’s opening celebration takes place at the European Bartender School in Woodstock on Saturday, 14 November.
Across two sessions, 11am-2:30pm and 3:30-7pm, guests can explore 20 craft spirit brands, cocktail masterclasses and educational tastings, alongside local brands, food, music and goodie bags.
All-inclusive Tickets: R250
AJABU Cocktail & Spirits Festival – 14-22 November
From Saturday, 14 November, participating venues across Cape Town will host a changing programme of bar pop-ups, guest appearances, local collaborations, masterclasses, seminars, workshops, live music and special experiences.
One wristband provides access to participating bars and festival events throughout the week, giving guests the freedom to explore the city, discover new spaces and meet visiting talent.
Wristband holders will also be entered into a draw to win flights and five nights’ accommodation in Goa, India, in April 2027, as a guest of John Paul Whisky Distillery.
Early bird seven-day full festival pass: R100 (Until 14 September 2026)
Seven-day full festival pass: : R150
Eight-day full festival pass: R350
Tickets and programme information are available through Quicket and the AJABU website, with further festival announcements and programme updates to follow.