The new cocktail festival unveils a broader vision from Barcelona to the global drinks industry.
Barcelona Cocktail Fest (BCF), taking place 18th–19th April 2026 at Palo Alto, Poblenou, Barcelona (formerly Paradiso Sustainability Summit) aims to reshape the trade shows globally focusing on consumers and working alongside the best bars from around the world. The rebrand marks the event’s 5th anniversary and signals a step-change by opening the doors wider to the city, its hospitality network, and local communities alongside the international bar industry. Across the wider festival week, Barcelona will come alive with city-wide events, pop-ups and collaborations, engaging the trade channel throughout the week and culminating in the two-day festival at Palo Alto, a leafy creative hub offering indoor and outdoor event space.
Anchored by the 2026 theme “FutureProof – Reimagining the Industry for What Comes Next,” BCF will convene bartenders, brands, producers, industry leaders, hospitality professionals, connoisseurs and curious consumers to explore sustainable innovation, responsibility and the next era of cocktail culture. Programming is curated by Paradiso’s founder, Giacomo Giannotti, with panels shaped in collaboration with The Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) to spotlight actionable, forward-looking practices.
“Barcelona Cocktail Fest is about building what comes next, together,” said Giacomo Giannotti. “We’re keeping the craft and community spirit people love, and opening the experience to more voices from Barcelona and beyond, industry, locals, and families alike.”
What’s new for 2026
Barcelona Cocktail Fest broadens its remit to actively engage local communities and hospitality networks while welcoming special guests from the international bar community. BCF 2026 is developed and produced in partnership between award-winning bartender Giacomo Giannotti and ItalSpirits by Giuseppe Gallo, an experienced global on-trade marketing and events agency, with Giacomo and ItalSpirits leading city-wide trade programming and brand activations across festival week.
The collaboration combines Giannotti’s global reputation with ItalSpirits’ proven strength in brand activations and hospitality marketing, enabling a larger footprint, more participating cocktail bars and a programme designed to feel as relevant to Barcelona as it is to the world’s leading venues. Expect a coordinated cocktail week of bar takeovers, seminars and trade touchpoints in venues across the city, feeding into the main BCF hub at Palo Alto
Event highlights
Across two days, Barcelona Cocktail Fest transforms Palo Alto into a city-scale showcase of contemporary drinks culture. Guests move between exclusive tasting counters serving one-off signature serves and a programme of expert-led masterclasses that unpack technique, flavour and trend. Headline pop-ups from award winning 50 Best venues, including, Himkok (Oslo), Native (Singapore), Alquímico (Cartagena), Röda Huset (Stockholm) and Angelita (Madrid), with service curated by the Paradiso crew (Barcelona), to sit alongside premium brand showcases and tasting corners, creating a natural route from discovery to trial.
Panels shaped with the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) bring forward-looking ideas to the main stage, with themes that include ingredient innovation, regenerative models and circular design. Dedicated networking spaces keep founders, operators and key opinion leaders within easy reach, while live DJs and a curated fleet of food trucks maintain the festival energy from first pour to last call. The format is inclusive by design so the BCF experience is extended to trade and consumers alike.
Programme & themes
Guided by the 2026 banner “FutureProof – Reimagining the Industry for What Comes Next,” Giacomo Giannotti, in collaboration with the SRA, curates a programme that turns big thinking into practical steps. Sessions interrogate where cocktail emissions originate in “How Bad Are Bananas?”, chart the move from sustainable to regenerative practice, explore “Designing with Scarcity,” and delve into ingredient innovation from seaweed and invasives to foraged ferments. Further conversations ask “Can AI Taste?” As technology meets flavour, map “Building Bars that Last” through resilient business models, reaffirm “Why the Bar Still Matters” as a civic space, and look ahead with “Drinking in 2075.” The result is a future-facing curriculum with immediate takeaways for professionals and fresh inspiration for the wider city.