REVIEW: Edinburgh Cocktail Week 2025 Launch Party ★★★★★
Cocktail Village, Festival Square | 2 October 2025
There are worse ways to spend a Thursday evening than working your way around 24 cocktail bars in the middle of Edinburgh.
Purely for research purposes, obviously.
Edinburgh Cocktail Week was back — and once again, I was very happy to help with the research.
Ahead of the festival officially opening its doors, I was invited along to the 2025 Launch Party at the Cocktail Village in Festival Square for a first look at what was waiting for cocktail lovers this year.
And having attended the launch for the past few years, this felt like the biggest evolution of the Cocktail Village yet.
🍸 A bigger Cocktail Village
The Cocktail Village has always been the heart of Edinburgh Cocktail Week, but for 2025 it had been given a significant makeover.
There were 24 pop-up bars, considerably more seating, a new outdoor drinks terrace, live music, street food, immersive spaces and even a Village Pub.
Basically, if you couldn't find something to drink...
you weren't trying hard enough.
The brilliant thing about the Village is the sheer variety.
One minute you're drinking something sweet and fruity, the next you're trying a cocktail containing an ingredient you've never heard of while nodding confidently at the bartender as though you absolutely know what they're talking about.
Premium spirits, independent brands and familiar Edinburgh names all sit alongside one another, making it a great opportunity to try something you wouldn't normally order on a night out.
And the bartenders are a huge part of the experience.
They're not simply firing drinks across a bar as quickly as possible. There's a real enthusiasm for explaining the cocktails, ingredients and brands — although admittedly, my ability to retain this information tends to decrease in direct proportion to the number of cocktails sampled.
🎶 More than just cocktails
What makes Edinburgh Cocktail Week work particularly well is that the Cocktail Village feels like an event in its own right.
Live music keeps the atmosphere going, there's food available when the inevitable “perhaps I should eat something” moment arrives, and the extra seating introduced for 2025 was very welcome.
The new outdoor terrace was another great addition, providing a little breathing space from the main Village and — this being Festival Square — a pretty spectacular Edinburgh backdrop.
It feels less like wandering around a drinks exhibition and more like spending an evening at a festival.
Except instead of standing in a muddy field holding a warm pint...
someone has handed you a professionally mixed cocktail.
I'll take that trade.
🍹 Taking over Edinburgh
The Cocktail Village is only one part of Edinburgh Cocktail Week.
The festival spreads across the city, with more than 100 participating bars offering special £5 cocktails to wristband holders throughout the ten-day event.
That's one of my favourite things about the whole concept.
It encourages you to get out and discover bars you might normally walk straight past, while also giving you an excuse to revisit old favourites.
And in a city with Edinburgh's bar scene, there's certainly no shortage of places to explore.
⭐ The verdict
Having attended Edinburgh Cocktail Week launch events before, there's always a danger that eventually it begins to feel like you've seen it all.
That certainly wasn't the case in 2025.
The redesigned Cocktail Village felt bigger, more comfortable and more like a proper festival destination, while retaining the fun atmosphere that makes the event work in the first place.
Good drinks.
Good music.
Good atmosphere.
And approximately 400 opportunities to say:
“I'll just have one more.”
If cocktails are your thing, Edinburgh Cocktail Week remains one of the easiest events on the city's calendar to recommend.
I'll raise a glass to that.
★★★★★ – 5/5
Jenna was invited to the Edinburgh Cocktail Week 2025 Launch Party at the Cocktail Village, Festival Square, on 2 October 2025.
