Diageo Reserve, in partnership with the City of Cape Town, is proud to announce the city’s status as the World Cocktail Capital as South Africa gets set to welcome 55 of the most talented bartenders in the world for the WORLD CLASS Bartender of the Year competition.

Taking place from August 31 to September 4 in Johannesburg and Cape Town, this year’s event is the biggest WORLD CLASS competition yet, with bartenders from over 50 countries – including more female contestants than ever before – competing to be crowned the best bartender in the world.

A landmark week on the luxury calendar, the competition will be attended by hundreds of industry experts and media representatives from around the world.

South Africa has not seen such international representation and attention surrounding a single contest since the 2010 World Cup. The TV show documenting the WORLD CLASS Bartender of the Year competition in London last year has to date been viewed by over 28 million people in 123.

“Cape Town’s designation as World Cocktail Capital follows on the city’s status as World Design Capital 2014 and we’re looking forward to hosting talented bartenders from around the world, showcasing Cape Town’s commitment to innovation, cutting-edge trends and global events,” says Garreth Bloor, Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for tourism, events and marketing.

The event, now in its seventh year, is the biggest and most prestigious mixology event in the world, providing a platform to celebrate the crème de la crème of the world’s bartenders – those who will set industry trends and standards at the world’s best bars while elevating the craft and building the luxury drinking industry around the world.

“We are pleased to be a part of the WORLD CLASS Bartender of the Year Global Final taking place in Cape Town – it’s a perfect complement to our efforts to make Cape Town the premier events and tourism capital of Africa. The international exposure around the city and South Africa is going to be phenomenal – the whole world will see what Cape Town has to offer,” says EnverDuminy, chief executive officer of Cape Town Tourism.

WORLD CLASS is to cocktails and bars what the Michelin Star is to food and restaurants – it is a mark of excellence at the finest drinking and social experiences in the world. WORLD CLASS bartenders and the venues where they work are synonymous with sophistication and impeccable service.

Domenico de Lorenzo, of Molecular Bars in Johannesburg, competed in three grueling workshops and a tightly-contested national final against the country’s best bartenders to be named South Africa’s champion and representative at the Global Finals. De Lorenzo recently spent four days at a mixology boot camp in Turkey to prepare to take on 55 of the most skilled cocktail makers in the world.

“WORLD CLASS is a global celebration of the bartender’s craft – the competition has travelled to Athens, New Delhi, Rio de Janeiro and London, with the 2013 finals taking to the open seas on a Mediterranean cruise ship. Now WORLD CLASS is coming to Africa for the first time, to one of its most beautiful countries, South Africa. Against such a backdrop, there is no doubt this is going to be one of the most stunning and successful competitions in WORLD CLASS history,” says Johanna Dalley, global director for WORLD CLASS.

Launched in 2009, WORLD CLASS has inspired more than 35 000 bartenders, representing more than 10 000 bars and restaurants worldwide. The number of countries participating in the competition has nearly tripled between 2009 and 2015 – from 18 to 53.