First Time at Tales
Guide: First Time at Tales of the Cocktail
If you’re a first-timer, use the guide below to help navigate your way through Tales of the Cocktail. We’ll see you there!
With hundreds of opportunities developed specifically for industry professionals from bartenders to distillers, Tales of the Cocktail® is the drinks industry’s annual meeting place for exchanging new ideas, products, and techniques featuring in-person education, tastings, networking, and awards programming. Since 2002, the global spirits community has gathered in the heart of the French Quarter for Tales of the Cocktail®. What started as an annual walking tour of historic New Orleans cocktail bars has now become the world’s leading cocktail conference.
Location
The Tales of the Cocktail conference is headquartered at The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans, and is home to Registration, Seminars, Tasting Rooms, Tales Catalyst, Toast to Tales, New Orleans Spirits Competition, and is the meeting point for New Orleans Cocktail Tours.
In addition, you can attend brand-sponsored events throughout the city. Grab a ride from a ride-sharing app to the brand parties or hop on a pedicab to arrive in style.
Tickets
First things first, decide which ticket package is right for you and choose your Special Event tickets. Buy your tickets online in advance before they sell out!
Ticket packages include week and day passes with options to choose seminar and tasting room combo access, tasting room access only, or the Week Wellness Pass that includes 20 activations (and is included with all other tickets). Special Event tickets grant you access to special events including Spirited Awards, Tales Catalyst, New Orleans Cocktail Tours, Day of Service, and Pig & Punch.
TOTC2024 Ticket Prices:
- Wellness Week Pass: $10
- Bartender Seminar & Tasting Week Pass: $500 (for working bartenders only)
- Seminar & Tasting Week Pass: $595
- Tasting Week Pass: $175
- Bartender Seminar & Tasting Day Pass: $155 (for working bartenders only)
- Seminar & Tasting Day Pass: $185
- Tasting Day Pass: $45
- Special Events
- Day of Service: Free Registration (for attendees)
- Tales Catalyst: $35
- New Orleans Cocktail Tours: $65
- 13th Annual Pig and Punch: $40
- Spirited Awards: Tickets on Sale June 17, 2024
Hotel Blocks
Tales of the Cocktail offers a hotel block for attendees with discounted rates at the host hotel, The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans, and a selection of other great hotels around New Orleans.
When You Arrive: Head to Registration First
To get your wristband and confirm you’re over 21, head to Registration when you arrive at The Ritz-Carlton. Be sure to bring a valid government-issued ID.
Learn Something New at Seminars
Learn the latest tricks of the trade and grow in your career at Tales of the Cocktail Seminars. TOTC strives to bring innovative, inclusive, and stimulating educational programming to the annual conference. Aimed at educating people in the drinks industry, the educational seminars’ themes of Business, Culture, and Beyond the Bar offer relevant content applicable to today’s bartenders, managers, and owners.
Be sure to attend the Keynote Address: How Bartenders Grow Your Brands – The Findings on Monday, July 22, 2024, supported by Topo Chico! Learn about the findings of a multi-year research project: How Bartenders Grow Your Brands. This panel builds on the TOTC 2023 Keynote Presentation and will examine the changing ecosystem of the beverage alcohol market while making a case for the value of bartenders in pushing consumer engagement and brand loyalty.
Check out the Conference Agenda to learn more about this year’s seminar topics and when and where they are taking place.
Network with Brand Reps and Sample Spirits in Tasting Rooms
Brands from around the world come together in Tales of the Cocktail Tasting Rooms to offer you the best pours. Head to the bars located around the conference floors and explore inside experiential tasting rooms and Brand Residencies.
A must-do is Meet the Distillers on Thursday, TOTC’s signature trade show offering guests an up close and personal experience with their favorite spirits brands. Taste samples, meet the makers, and get a firsthand account of distillations from across the globe.
The Conference Agenda lists all of the Tasting Rooms and bars for each day so you can plan which brands you want to learn about and taste.
Choose By Invitation Events to Attend
The best spirits brands from around the world will once again host exclusive events in venues around New Orleans for TOTC attendees to be inspired by their creativity. By Invitation event types include day and night events, as well as Spirited Drinking + Dining.
Spirited Drinking + Dining experiences include Spirited Dinners, Guest Shifts, Happy Hours, and Last Call Happy Hours. Spirited Dining events require a separate ticket available to purchase in the description located in the Conference Agenda. Guests Shifts, Happy Hours, and Last Call Happy Hours may require an RSVP, if one is required the link will be in the description.
By Invitation Events often have an RSVP list that is shared on the Conference Agenda as well as the brand’s social media. Get your RSVPs in early, as space is limited at many parties.
Go Beyond the Bar
Beyond the Bar (BTB) provides a platform to address serious issues within the global drinks industry, including mental and physical wellness, substance use, sexual harassment, diversity, and sustainability.
This year, Tales of the Cocktail’s Beyond the Bar programming includes onsite workshops, networking sessions, fitness classes, sobriety support groups, and the Grant Finalist Showcase, in addition to the Beyond the Bar Lounge with non-alcoholic cocktails presented by Lyre’s.
Look for the Beyond the Bar tag in the Conference Agenda to attend one of these events.
Make Plans to Attend Special Events
Day of Service
Sunday, July 21, 2024
Free Registration (for attendees)
TOTCF and Edrington are excited to welcome you to our annual Day of Service in partnership with Green Light New Orleans and The Water Collaborative. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about Tales of the Cocktail Foundation’s sustainability initiatives, learn about the history of water and justice in New Orleans, and paint rain barrels that will be distributed to bars throughout the city.
Toast to Tales
Monday, July 22, 2024
10 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.
Join the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation’s Board of Directors in toasting its 22nd year and another exceptional lineup of seminars, events, networking opportunities, tastings, and awards programming all aimed to “Inspire” the cocktail community — the conference’s 2024 theme. This year’s Toast to Tales will be held in The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans Courtyard on the third floor.
New Orleans Cocktail Tours
$65
In collaboration with Wayne Curtis, a series of 8 educational walking tours will provide a wealth of knowledge and keen insight into the city’s history and cocktail scene. Enlisting special guests to help guide the tours, Wayne and his team will lead immersive experiences throughout the French Quarter.
This year’s tour topics include “Brandy/Bourbon/Bitters/Ice,” “The Big Gay Bar Tour,” “Bourbon St & How it Got That Way,” and “Absinthe Tour.”
Tales Catalyst
$35
Tuesday, July 23, 2024
Hear from the industry’s most inspiring and influential leaders during Tales Catalyst, a celebration of people who have made unique and lasting contributions to the global hospitality industry. Since 2012, the Tales Catalysts have welcomed members to this group of individuals who highlight marginalized groups within the industry and shine a spotlight on leaders actively making changes in their communities.
Spirited Awards
Thursday, July 25, 2024
Attend the celebration of the 2024 Spirited Awards Top 4 Nominees and Winners at the Spirited Awards Ceremony on Thursday, July 25, 2024. Since its founding in 2007, the Spirited Awards have become one of the industry’s most revered awards, recognizing beverage professionals, products, establishments, journalists, and media across every facet of the spirits and cocktail industry on a global scale.
13th Annual Pig and Punch
$40
Friday, July 26, 2024
12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The Broadside
The 13th annual Pig & Punch presented by The Bon Vivants is thrilled to be heading back to New Orleans for a one-of-a-kind party for charity to close out Tales of the Cocktail! New Orleans holds a special place in the heart of Pig & Punch, infusing the event with its distinct brand of fun and energy. This year, we’re excited to bring the party to a fresh venue, The Broadside, promising an unparalleled experience.