The COVID-19 pandemic continues to sweep the globe, causing waves of event cancellations and postponements in its wake.
Cities have been locked down, large gatherings banned, and travel restrictions and regulations increase in their severity. For many events scheduled in the near future, these facts make going ahead simply not possible.
One of the impacted events is the global final of the Bacardi Legacy cocktail competition, which was scheduled to take place in the first week of May in Miami. It was set to include Australian finalist, Adam Dow from Sydney’s Dead Ringer.
Bacardi have postponed the 12th iteration of the competition until further notice, citing World Health Organisation (WHO) advice about the pandemic. WHO, as well as some local governments in the US, note guidelines around density reduction and social distancing that the competition could not have adhered to.
Ned Duggan, Global SVP of Bacardi, said: “In coordination with our local authorities and public health officials Bacardi has made this decision to safeguard the health and well-being of everyone involved in the Bacardi Legacy Cocktail Competition – from our finalists to our hotel and bar partners,”
“This remains an ever-evolving and challenging situation, but we should all do our part to limit the spread of COVID-19.”
The Global Advocacy Director for Bacardi, Jacob Briars, agreed and sad that more information about the future of the competition and finalists would be coming soon.
“It’s a sad day at Bacardi as we won’t be able to celebrate the amazing work of our 41 Legacy finalists in May as planned, but our main priority is to ensure the safety of our vibrant community,” said Briars.
“Our finalists have been working incredibly hard for the last year to prepare for the finals in Miami. We are working on plans to continue to shine a spotlight on the 2020 Legacy finalists, their Legacy cocktails and their bars around the world and will update with more details soon.”
Also announced this week was the cancellation of another event scheduled for May, the Good Beer Week Festival. The Festival has also been postponed until further notice, with organisers saying they will wait until more information about the pandemic is available.
Organisers have also said they would like to hold the festival this year if it is safe to do so, rather than cancel altogether, to support those who have dedicated so much already to the festival.
In a statement, they said: “We understand that, right now, it is difficult to predict how long the current bans will be in place. However, we would like our supporters and the greater community to rest assured that Good Beer Week will go ahead once the Government advises it is safe to do so.
“While these are unimaginable times, our team will continue to do everything we can to support all those in the community, to limit the spread of COVID-19 and to ensure each other’s safety.”
