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After the drought of festivals over the last two years, it’s good to see that dates are being announced and get-togethers organized once again. Festivals are those great meeting places where people from all walks of life can get together to sample, learn, educate, understand and meet many of the movers and shakers of the rum world. New rums are launched and old ones given new life. Friends are made, favoured enemies are offered spiced rums. Distillers new and old, producers, owners, ambassadors, agents, brokers, bloggers, vloggers, writers, instagrammers, journalists, hobbyists, aficionados, podcasters, personages and the simply curious all come together to rub shoulders and have a good time to see what’s out there, what’s new and exciting.
In previous years, Pete Holland curated this schedule, but I know he’s busy now, so I’ve taken it on myself to help out for 2022, not least because I want to go to a few of them myself (perhaps even with the lovely Mrs. Caner, who professes disinterest but “might take a glotochka or two” – purely for educational purposes, you understand).
This is the best I’ve been able to come up with after some searching around. I’ve attempted to note which are trade fairs versus audience led events, and have (sorry!) mostly ignored cruises and specialty one-off affairs or cocktail-only. No doubt there’s the occasional error or omission, so if there is anything to add, delete or change, by all means shoot me a note so I can make corrections.
March
- 05-06 Craft Spirits Berlin Festival (Trade)
- 08-10 The Rum Day, Milan, Italy
- 11-12 Miami Rum Congress
- 26 Sola Rum, Food & Wine Festival, Ft Lauderdale, Florida USA
April
- 02-04 Rhum Fest Paris
- 21-24 Madeira Rum Festival (FB Post)
- 23 Australian Distillers Festival (Eventbrite)
- 29-01 Puttgarden 13th Rom & Whisky Festival, N. Germany
- 30-01 Guyana Rum Festival (FB only)
- 30 Chicago (Midwest) Rum Festival
May
- 07 Oslo Rum Festival (FB only)
- 08-10 Sugar Cane Experience Rum Day, Milan, Italy
- 14 Brisbane Rum Revolution Part 1 (Eventbrite)
- 15-17 ProWein Trade Fair, Dusseldorf, Germany (Trade)1
- 20-21 Gin & Rum Festival, Lucerne, Switzerland
- 21 Prague RumFest, Czech Republic
- 28 Taste of Rum – Puerto Rico Rum Festival
June
- 05 Singapore Rumbellion (FB)(ref)(ref) added
- 10 Leeds Gin & Rum Festival UK (FB only)
- 14-15 Bar Convent Brooklyn, NY, USA (Trade)
- 14-17 Bonaire Rum Week, Bonaire
- 18 Manchester Rum Festival
- 18 New York Rum Festival and Congress (10-17 is NY Rum Week)
- 18 Sherwood Park Rum Festival, AB, Canada (FB only)
- 25 Jamaica Rum Festival Jamaica
- 25-26 Bordeaux Rum Festival (FB)
July
- 30.6-2 Hanse Spirits Fair, Hamburg Germany
- 04-05 Imbibe Live London, UK (Trade)
- 22-23 TWE Rum Show, London, UK
- 25-29 Tales of the Cocktail New Orleans, USA
August
- 13 Brooklyn Rum Festival, (instagram) USA
- 26-27 Craft Rum Show Aberdeen, UK
- 27-28 Berlin Rum Fest Germany
September
- 02 Seattle Rum Festival
- 02-03 Nordic Rum Festival, Copenhagen (merged with WhiskyLive)
- 03 WhiskyNet 1st Rum Show, Budapest
- 02-04 Finest Spirits Festival, Munich, Germany
- 04 San Francisco Rum Festival (formerly California Rum Festival North)
- 09 LA Rum Festival (formerly California Rum Festival South)
- 10-11 Guyana Rum Festival Georgetown, Guyana (FB) (Note 1 below)
- 10-11 Craft Show Edinburgh (aka Ultimate Rum Festival) (Note 2 below)
- 17 Leeds Rum Fest UK (Eventbrite)
- 17 Montréal International Rum Festival, Canada (Insta) (FB)
- 23-25 WhiskyLive Paris (+Rum) (Ticketing)
October
- 02-03 ShowRum Italian Rum Festival [FB] [Website]
- 07-08 Whisky & Rum aan Zee Fest, Holland,
- 08-09 Salon du Rhum Spa, Belgium (FB)
- 10-12 Bar Convent Berlin, Germany (Trade)
- 13-14 Panamá Rumfest, Panama (FB)
- 14-15 Sugarcane Days, Hamburg, Germany (cancelled)
- 14-16 Abidjan Rum Festival Part 1, Ivory Coast, Africa (FB) (14th is Trade Day)
- 15-16 Nantes Spirits Festival (and FB), France
- 15-16 The UK Rumfest, London (17th is Trade)
- 22-23 Abidjan Rum Festival Part 2, Ivory Coast, Africa (FB here and here)
- 27-30 Barbados Food, Wine & Rum Festival (website)
November
- 01-06 Caribbean Rum Awards & Expo, St Barths (FB)
- 04-05 Danish Rum (and Whisky) Festival, Denmark
- 05 Brisbane Rum Revolution Part 2 (FB)(EventBrite)
- 08 Think Rum Trade Day, London (FB)(IG)
- 12-13 Miami Rum Renaissance
- 18-21 Taipei Int’l Wine & Spirits Festival (FB not updated)
- 19-20 Whisky Live Singapore (+ Rum) (Ticketing)
- 19 Port to Paradise Gin & Rum Festival, Newcastle NSW, Aust (FB)(Tickets)
December
- 04 Caribbean Food & Rum Festival Hollywood, FL, USA (FB)
Tours / Mutiples
- Gin & Rum Festival (around the UK, various dates)
- WhiskyLive (around the world, various dates – not all have rums, but where this is known, an entry will be added above)
Webpages and festival sites that have not been updated for 2022, or are delayed to 2023
(Last checked for updates August 2nd 2022)
- Milan Rum Festival, Italy
- Cologne Spirits, Germany
- Toronto Rum Fest, Canada (postponed to 2023)
- Salons des Rhums & Terroires, Toulouse, France
- Rum Love Festival, Poland (also FB) (postponed to 2023)
- Glasgow Rum Festival, UK
- London Rum Week, UK
Notes
- Guyana Rum Festival (Sep 10-11) is limited; a bit of an expo, some cocktails, BBQ, music, and DDL and Banks products. Not a true festival.
- Craft show Edinburgh (Sep 10-11) reported to be majority gins, and rums made by those companies.