I should perhaps start this off with a hearty piratical “Arrrrrr!” or some other rum-soaked cliché. But I won’t.
Anyway, if you like a drop of rum or a gin and tonic of an evening, then the aptly-named Vienna Rumfestival and Ginmarkt Wien might be your thing.
- Rum and gin festivals held at Ottakringer Brewery
- Extra tastings, food & music normally feature, too
- 2023 dates: Sept 22-23
- See also:
What are the festivals all about?
(Rum festival press photo © Rainer Mirau)
Drinking rum and gin. A celebration of rum and gin. The two festivals share a date and location, both taking place on the premises of Vienna’s main brewer (Ottakringer).
The Vienna Rumfestival offers visitors the chance to discover different types of rum from dozens of brands. Get a flavour (see what I did there?) of an earlier event from the video at the end of this article.
It’s the brainchild of rum aficionados, who will no doubt grimace at my earlier pirate comment. After all, rum has escaped its historical naval milieu to become a drink of the world, albeit resonant with Caribbean flair and history.
The Ginmarkt Wien festival is a year younger and goes better with tonic and a slice of lemon.
The Rumfestival
Obviously, there’s the chance to sample and/or buy the drink that led Lord Byron to write:
There’s nought, no doubt, so much the spirit calms
As rum and true religion: thus it was
Various specialist tastings usually take place, along with a range of related entertainments, such as , for example, a food and bar area.
A strong cocktail theme runs through the rum festival, of course. In 2022, this included a Tropical Garden rum cocktail bar.
The Ginmarkt
As well as plenty of gin to sample from numerous brands, the event usually also has food, shopping opportunities, and music, the latter courtesy of various DJs.
The last few years have seen an explosion of interest in gin in Vienna, with specialty gin stores opening in town. We’ve come a long way from Hogarth’s 18th century political cartoons.
2023 dates and tickets
Provisional dates for 2023 are September 22nd and 23rd.
In 2022, you bought tickets online for a timeslot from the websites (see below for links). A ticket typically gets you, for example, a tasting glass and tasting vouchers in addition to entrance.
How to get to the festivals
The Ottakringer Brauerei (Ottakringer brewery) site is picking up a reputation as an excellent event location: it also hosts a long summer beer festival, for example.
Subway: Take the U3 to its final station (Ottakring) and walk down (or jump on the nearby 44 tram)
Tram: Take line 2, 9 or 44 to the Johann-Nepomuk-Berger-Platz stop, which is opposite the brewery. Or the 46 line to Feßtgasse.
Address: Ottakringer Platz 1, 1160 Vienna | Rum festival | Gin festival
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