Brighton Cocktail Festival: ten days of £6 cocktails

Brighton's cocktail scene is about to get very busy. The Brighton Cocktail Festival returns to the seafront from Friday 18 September to Sunday 27 September, ten days of mixology spread across more than 50 of the city's best bars. It bills itself as the largest cocktail event in the country, and the format is what sets it apart: rather than being tied to a single venue, it takes over the whole city, so you can wander from one bar to the next rather than staying put.

The headline draw is the price. There are more than 150 exclusive festival cocktails on offer at £6 each, with non-alcoholic versions at £4, alongside cocktail trails, experiences and offers dotted across town. Standard entry is indicative at £15, though prices can change day to day, and you book through Ticket Tailor. Each day opens at 09:00, which gives you plenty of time to plan a route before the evening rush.

Because the festival is spread across so many venues, the line-up is worth a look before you commit. At the graffiti-style whisky bar and bottle shop Cut Your Wolf Loose on Trafalgar Street, there is a basement with a Sega Megadrive for when you need a break from the drinking. Bar Valentino, the 1920s-style speakeasy tucked above Tinto Taperia on New Road, leans into the mood with red leather sofas, mirrors and red-lit interiors; it was voted Brighton's Best Bar in 2021 and runs on revised festival hours, staying open until 01:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. Apiary on Norfolk Square is a café and all-day bar run by beekeepers Alistair and Noemi, with wicker beehive lamps and a honeycomb ceiling, and it is family and dog friendly. Helm, on the corner of Jubilee Street and North Road, doubles as an art gallery and is wheelchair, dog and family friendly. And for something a bit more plush, the Victoria Bar & Lounge at The Grand Brighton, with its gold and deep blue interiors and local art, takes non-residents until 11:00 daily without a booking.

There is also a new app this year, the first of its kind for the festival, which is available on iOS and Android. It lets you activate your tickets, find bars and cocktails, build your own trails on a live interactive map and keep track of where you have been, which is handy when you are bouncing between venues. It is developed by Brighton Cocktail Experiences Ltd, based at Preston Park House on South Road, and is rated 18+.

Ten days is a long time to be going on the cocktail circuit, so the good news is you do not have to do it all at once. Whether you want to pick one or two nights and stick to a neighbourhood or spend a whole weekend working your way through the list, the format lets you take it at your own pace. With over 50 bars and 150-plus drinks to choose from, the hard part is really deciding where to start.