Scotland’s only Mezcal and Tequila festival brings Mexican spirit to The Briggait

The Victorian market hall of The Briggait in Glasgow city centre will play host to hundreds of agave afficionados, when Copita Mezcal and Tequila Festival, Scotland’s first and only celebration of the artisanal spirits of Mexico returns with gusto, after a spectacularly well-received inaugural outing last spring.

The next installment in the festival will take place on Saturday 27th April 2024. Playing on its strengths from earlier this year, the tasting festival will cater to both devotees and newcomers to agave spirits, providing an easy-going and educational yet lively atmosphere for tasting and appreciating the finely distilled liquids made from Mexico’s agave plants. With over 90 different spirits to sample last year Copita brought a wealth of flavour the likes of which Glasgow had never seen before and they are committed to making next year even better.

The team behind Copita are experienced at curating and hosting festivals and are pleased that they chose Glasgow for the inaugural Copita Festival, with Colin Campbell, one of the co- founders of the festival stating: “The team were absolutely delighted with the launch of Copita this year. As we suspected - Glasgow has so much love for mezcal and tequila, and people came out in their droves for our first event. So, why not round two? We want to build on the success of last year and will host even more stalls and spirits this time around. Masterclasses will continue to be hosted by some of the biggest names in the UK agave scene and we’ll push the limits of the cocktail bar to come up with! One of our favourite parts of the first event was the crowd - they truly filled the day with so much enthusiasm and excitement, we can't thank them enough and we hope to see you all again next year!"

"If you’re new to mezcal but have an interest in say whisky, gin or rum, we think you’ll find yourself right at home at Copita. If you’re already a fan of agave drinks, or of Copita, you know this is the place to be next April."

Over one of two 3.5 hour sessions, ticket holders will be invited to stroll the market floor of the stunning Briggait and explore the festival tasting stands, sampling (responsibly) over 80 different agave-based spirits from Mexico’s top producers, whilst chatting with brand ambassadors who will be on hand to convey their expert knowledge in the field. There is no token system and no extra charge to sample any of the spirits on offer.

Street food stalls from well-loved local establishments will be serving up hot delights to counteract the drinks on offer, and in-depth masterclasses (sold separately) will be held in adjoining rooms, for those who wish to take an even deeper dive into the world of mezcal and tequila.

A discounted bottle shop operating in the venue for the day by Drinkmonger will allow attendees to take home bottles of anything that particularly piqued their interest on the tasting floor.

And if that all wasn’t enough, a team of top bartenders from Glasgow’s best cocktail bars will be mixing exclusive and exciting drinks from a pop-up mezcal and tequila cocktail bar on the day. Each ticket will include one free cocktail or craft beer.

Early bird tickets are on sale until midnight on 31st December and offer a 15% discount from general admission, coming in at £29.75.

Each ticket normally costs £35.00 and includes:

• Access to one of the 3.5 hour sessions
• Your own clay tasting copita to use at the festival and take home with you afterwards
• Unlimited (responsible) access to the tasting floor, and samples of over 50 tequilas, mezcals, sotols and other agave based spirits on offer, served by their knowledgable brand ambassadors
• Official festival programme with info on attendees and masterclasses.
• One free cocktail or craft beer from the pop up bar
• Two £5 discount vouchers for the on-site bottle shop, operated by Drinkmonger
• Opportunity to access in-depth masterclasses (additional charges may apply)

The team behind Copita are well-versed in the food, drink and events industries, with a founder of The National Whisky Festival of Scotland, owners of Five March and Sylvan restaurants and members of the spirits industry and the live music industry co-founding the festival.

Copita Mezcal and Tequila Festival is on sale from 9am now and tickets can be purchased from copitafestival.com.

Earlybird Tickets (15% off): £29.75 Tickets: £35.00 Event date: 27/04/2024 Session 1: 1pm - 4.30pm Session 2: 5.15pm - 8.45pm Event location: The Briggait, 141 Bridgegate, Glasgow G1 5HZ