Last week I attended a prosecco and gin festival held in Leeds. Here is the lowdown on the festival. Let’s beGin!
I am partial to a bit of gin; only recently discovering that I actually liked it. Well, I maybe enjoy the flavoured variety a bit more! Tonic was the factor in my initial dislike of gin. Anyone else? I attended a Gin Tasting way back in July I think; which solidified my liking of gin.
Past Experience:
For Christmas, my friends bought tickets to a Prosecco and Gin Festival in Leeds. We have had a bit of bad luck with festivals like this in the past. One we had booked onto was cancelled last minute, however, the company failed to inform us that it had been cancelled. We turned up to Leeds Town Hall with other guests to find it all locked up and no event! It is safe to say this did not impress us, and we were a little cautious about this event.
Prosecco and Gin Festival
Luckily for us, this prosecco and gin festival was a sure thing. New Craven Hall was the venue of choice for the festival; and one I have visited previously. You may remember I attended Blog at the Beach back in July which was held here too.
The décor was simple, with lights
As well as an abundance of gin and prosecco at the festival, there was also a pizza vendor. These looked so yummy and smelt amazing. A band of two also entertained the crowd for a short while with a few classic covers. They were great but didn’t really get the crowd going.
Pricing:
Tickets for the event cost about £12, with a VIP experience ticket costing around £24. With both tickets, you have a glass to enjoy various concoctions of gin and prosecco. The cheaper ticket receiving a slim glass, and the VIP ticket receiving a gin glass. Including a brochure of the various bars and what gins and prosecco on offer for the night
The festival works on a token system with a drink costing one token. There are a few exceptions of the prosecco and
Keep Your Gin Up:
So, after purchasing three tokens, it was onto trying a few gins! There were four different bars to choose from, each with different gins. There were about 50+ gins to try! At the bars are the gins, with the mixers added at a separate station. The prosecco and sparkling wine section were actually at the bar of the venue. Tempting as it was to try a prosecco or two, I thought against mixing my drinks. Prosecco drunk and gin drunk are completely different, and I didn’t fancy experiencing a mix of these! 😂
Gin #1:
The first one I went for was violet gin (Zymurgorium Sweet Violet) mixing this with rose lemonade (Fentiman’s). It is recommended in the festival brochure to have this with lemonade or Indian Tonic water. Blueberries decorate the drink.
I quite liked this combination of flavours, and think the rose lemonade went really well with the sweet violet. It wasn’t too perfumed based either, as I thought it might be. I think this was one of my favourites that I tried during the festival.
Gin #2:
The second gin I tasted is another flavoured one, lavender (Masons Lavender Edition). I had to go with a Yorkshire gin being a Yorkshire Lass! You are recommended to pair this with tonic or ginger beer. I went with the latter; with the drink having a slice of lime as a garnish. I think this was my least favourite of the night. I just don’t think the ginger beer and lavender complemented each other at all. The ginger beer was way to fiery for the delicateness of the lavender. I may have to try this again with ginger ale, or even lemonade. Maybe the rose one would have been a better pairing!
Gin #3:
Gin number three of the festival (not of the night) came in the form of rhubarb and custard flavour (Nelsons Rhubarb and Custard). This is recommended as having neat over ice or with a premium tonic. I wasn’t too sure I was ready for neat gin, so I paired this with lemonade instead. I must say this was my second favourite of the three, it really did taste like the rhubarb and custard sweets you can get. The only thing with this was the lemonade overpowered it a bit, maybe the cheap post-mix lemonade would let the rhubarb and custard come through more.
To Gin or Not To Gin?
I thought this festival was great, with the ticket pricing being quite reasonable. I think I would have probably tried more of the gins if maybe the pricing had been lower. Going for the VIP ticket does give you a free drink. But I’m not sure if that is worth the extra £10 or so. It is a festival I would attend again though, as it was nice trying the different gins on offer.
Have you attended a prosecco and gin festival before? What were your thoughts?
Would you attend a festival like this?
Thanks for reading!
I am just starting to like gin so being able to try a bunch of different varieties sounds fun!
It’s a great way to see which gin you like!
Thanks for commenting 🙂
Aimsy xoxo
This sounds like such a fun event! The violet gin with the rose lemonade sounds really nice. Wow, 50 gins is an impressive amount, I wouldn’t know which ones to pick, he he. It’s great there was pizza and a band there too. It sounds like an awesome experience and a great way to discover your next new favourite gin flavour. Thanks for sharing Aimsy, fab post! <3 xx
Bexa | http://www.hellobexa.com
I love the rose lemonade on its own, but you can get at with gin in too!
It was a good festival, and not too bad considering the ticket price. There is no way I would have gotten through the 50 though
Thanks for commenting!
Aimsy xoxo
I’m not so much of a gin person, but this looks like such a fun experience! I would love if I could go to something like this.
Sarah | getupgetaway.com
I thought I didn’t like gin, turned out to be the tonic. Some gins are quite perfume / strong tasting though. They are always great fun!
Thanks for commenting!
Aimsy xoxo
Ah now this kind of festival sounds amazing! Such a great way to try different gins xx
GemmaEtc.com ❤️
Such a good way of trying different gin! Prosecco too!
Thanks for commenting!
Aimsy xoxo
I’m not a fan of gin but this sounds like such a wonderful experience!
Thanks for commenting 🙂
I must admit that I prefer the fruity flavoured gins over ‘proper’ gin!
Aimsy xoxo
This sounds like such a cool experience! I’m not the biggest fan of gin but I like the idea of being able to try a few different ones out and I love prosecco anyway haha! xx
http://www.imjustagirl16.co.uk
I think if the different vendors hadn’t have been so busy there would have been a good opportunity to have some extra free samples too!
There was plenty of prosecco and sparkling wine on offer….so would have been perfect!
Thanks for commenting!
Aimsy xoxo
Dude! 24 euros for VIP? 😮 That sounds awesome lol I’ve never went to a VIP event at home this reasonable (even when converted to my currency)…This event sounds like it was loads of fun and I’m glad you got to experience it and try new liquer 😀 The violet gin sounds totes refreshing tbh. Thanks for letting us in on your gin adventure…awesome post girl! <3
xx Lena | https://lenadeexo.com
Thanks for your lovely comment!
I think I am used to cheap pub prices! Have you ever heard of Wetherspoons? (one of the cheapest pub brands in the UK) You can get a double gin for around the same price or less than what the tokens cost Saying that there isn’t the mass of variety that was at the event. I guess £24 is good when you look at it that way, especially with a free drink included and a glass to keep.
Violet gin is lovely…don’t have it with ginger beer or ale though…not quite as nice!
Glad you liked the gin adventure!
Aimsy xoxo
I love gin! It is such an amazing drink and so easy to combine with different flavours. I would love that festival, but it was maybe a bit too pricey. It would be great if they had like little samples to try and then decide on which you want to purchase.
Yey a fellow gin lover!
I much prefer with lemonade rather than tonic though. I think that would have been great to have a taster first…the vendors offering samples were too crowded and they expected you to buy the bottles after. It was a great event though!
Aimsy xoxo
I’m not a big fan of gin but I would definitely go to this for the prosecco! I’m glad you had a great time! xx
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Yeah, there was something for all. I would have tried the prosecco but didn’t want to mix my drinks.
Thanks for commenting!
Aimsy xoxo
That sounds like so much fun, and those flavours sound really nice! It’s great that they had pizza too! I’ve never been to a prosecco or gin festival or any kind of drinks festival before. Nice photos, it looks like a great atmosphere! The drinks do sound more expensive than normal but I guess you are paying for the whole experience!
Yeah, it was a great event to attend! My friend had a pizza, but I didn’t. It looked so nice though!
If you ever get the chance to attend something like this I would highly recommend!
Thanks for your comment!
Aimsy xoxo
Haha, gin always makes my head hurt in the next morning! This looks like such a fun event and by the sound of it, sounds like you had an amazing time 🙂 could do with a glass of Prosecco this evening tho!
✖️Jasmin
// overdosedoncaffeine.com
Yeah, it makes my head hurt too if I have too much! With the flavoured versions, you don’t always realise how much you are drinking as they are like pop! It was a great event, I would recommend attending something similar. You can’t beat a glass of prosecco either!
Thanks for your comment
Aimsy xoxo
Sounds fun!! I’m definitely going to try and find the first one (& mix it w some lemonade!)
Oh, you so should try it…with lemonade. I think it tastes like the palm of violet sweets. Delicious!!
Aimsy xoxo
I love gin (and have recently decided to like tonic too!) so this is my idea of heaven! The rhubarb and custard one sounds lush!
Jess xxx
I am working in liking tonic! There are a few nicer flavoured ones now aren’t there? Oh the rhubarb and custard one was delicious!
Thanks for commenting!
Aimsy xoxo
Oh wow! Looks like a fun event!
https://jendbibliophile.wordpress.com
It was! Would definitely attend something similar in the future
Thanks for your comment!
Aimsy xoxo