October 2017

Rochester’s Inaugural Bloody Mary Fest

If you’re a lover of savory cocktails, there should be no excuse good enough to make you miss the first annual Rochester Bloody Mary Fest. (Not even football! The Bills have the bye!) On Sunday, October 15th, ten of the city’s most popular cocktail crafters (listed here) will convene at the Main Street Armory to throw down in an epic battle of the bloodies. We can only imagine that horseradish, olives, bacon, and shrimp will be flying as these mix-masters vie for titles like “Best Garnished Bloody Mary”, “Most Creative Bloody Mary”, and, of course, “Rochester’s Best Bloody Mary.”

You Crown the Winners

The best part of this fest is that you get to be the taste-tester. That’s right — you decide who takes home the honors in this mixology melee. In addition to tasting each bar’s unique Bloody Mary concoction, all attendees are also invited to enjoy samples and offerings from local vendors, jam to a live DJ, get silly in a photo-booth station, play games, and check out other entertainment. There will be food for purchase from Main Street Armory and a cash bar offering supplemental refreshments.

Upstate New York Vodka

Who (reading this) doesn’t love locally distilled spirits? Well, to keep things fair, all the bloodies at the event will be made using award-winning vodka from local WNY brand Tommyrotter Distillery. This super-particular, detail-oriented operation is housed in a 115-year-old paper box factory located in the heart of Buffalo’s historic Hydraulics manufacturing district. The place used to churn out 4 million boxes a day! Today, the batches being produced there are a whole lot smaller, but they’re sure to bring a lot more joy than a bunch of empty corrugated cartons.

Ticket Info

• General admission tickets include admission to the event and one Bloody Mary taste from each of the 10 participating bars.
• VIP tickets include admission to the event, one Bloody Mary taste from each participating bar, a special VIP entry, exclusive access to the VIP lounge with private seating, a private cash bar, and a VIP-only food buffet.
• Tickets are non-refundable but are transferable.
• Must be 21+ to enter. IDs are required at check-in.
• Buy tickets here.

FYI: When you purchase a ticket to the Rochester Bloody Mary Fest, you’ll be automatically signed up for Step Out Buffalo’s email newsletter. That’s just how it works. If you’re not psyched about it, you can unsubscribe when you receive the first newsletter.