Drink Las Vegas Makes Its Strip Debut in September
Las Vegas is getting a new four-day food and beverage festival, and this one is not easing into town quietly. Drink Las Vegas will debut Thursday, September 24, and continue through Sunday, September 27, 2026, with events at ARIA, Bellagio, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and Park MGM.
Hosted by MGM Resorts International and produced with experiential event company a21, the festival is built around cocktails, spirits, wine and chef-driven dining. The announced program includes signature tastings, intimate dinners, brand experiences, seminars, industry panels and late-night parties spread across more than 30 resort venues.
That makes this much bigger than a walk-around tasting where somebody hands you a tiny plastic cup and points toward the bourbon table. Drink Las Vegas is selling individual experiences as well as multiday packages, so guests can build a focused schedule or commit to a weekend that may require both comfortable shoes and a very responsible hydration plan.
When and Where Is Drink Las Vegas?
The festival runs from 10 a.m. Thursday, September 24, through 2 p.m. Sunday, September 27, according to the official MGM Resorts event page. Programming is divided among four center-Strip properties, with each resort contributing restaurants, lounges and event spaces.
ARIA Resort & Casino
ARIA gets a major opening-night role. The announced schedule includes a House of Pernod brand experience at Iris, an Opus One Vintner's Table dinner at Carbone and a Zodiac-themed dinner at Blossom on Thursday.
The festival's Opening Night signature tasting is also scheduled for ARIA's Yucca Pool. Jean-Georges Vongerichten is listed as host, with Shaquille O'Neal appearing as a special guest. General admission for that event was listed from $250 when tickets went on sale.
Back where I am from, opening night usually meant folding chairs and a crockpot full of meatballs. Vegas has Shaq at a poolside tasting. There are moments when the move west still feels like a clerical error in my favor.
Bellagio
Bellagio will host educational sessions, lunches and premium tastings. Friday's announced lineup includes The Future Pour: Beverage Leaders Under 40 at Jasmine and a Contemporary Classics lunch at Spago featuring Wolfgang Puck, Byron Lazaroff-Puck, Timothy Hollingsworth and Nicolas Torres.
Saturday brings a blind wine tasting at Jasmine, a Carbone Riviera lunch and a Latin-Japanese-inspired lunch at Yellowtail. The Vault is scheduled to host The Best of Rip Van Winkle, a premium bourbon seminar listed from $275.
This is where the festival's range becomes clear. One hour can be about the next generation of beverage leaders, while another asks you to study a famously hard-to-find whiskey with the seriousness of a county judge reviewing property lines.
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is handling several cocktail-forward experiences. An Evening in Paradis(e) with Hennessy Paradis is scheduled at The Chandelier on Thursday, with separate industry and consumer entry times. The resort will also host In Rare Form, a steak and cocktail dinner featuring Tom Colicchio, Tristen Epps-Long and Meaghan Dorman.
Friday's program includes an agave-focused lunch at Amaya, a no- and low-alcohol cocktail panel at Westoria and an Italian dinner pairing food with vintage wine. A Saturday panel presented by Food & Wine will examine the future of restaurant cocktails.
The Cosmo has always understood that a drink can be part refreshment, part theater and part story you tell the next morning. These events lean directly into that personality without pretending every guest already knows the difference between an amaro and an aperitivo.
Park MGM
Park MGM brings food, rum and nightlife into the mix. Friday's Island Alchemy dinner at Primrose will combine Afro-Caribbean cooking with rum-forward cocktails. Later that night, Roy Choi will host IN THE MIX: Music Meets Mixology at On the Record, with different rooms pairing musical styles and drinks.
That late-night event was listed from $195. It is a good example of the festival's broader approach. Drink Las Vegas is not limiting itself to quiet seminars or formal tasting notes. Some experiences are designed to feel like dinner, some like class and others like a full Vegas night out.
What Kind of Events Are on the Schedule?
The festival initially announced more than 50 events, and its online calendar organizes the program into signature tastings, dining experiences, Vintner's Table dinners, cocktail hours, brand experiences, panels and seminars. Additional programming may still be added, so the schedule is worth checking again before making plans.
Among the marquee experiences are Opening Night, A Night of Excellence hosted by the James Beard Foundation, and Timeless Taste: Celebrating the Legacy of Las Vegas. Announced culinary and beverage talent includes Tom Colicchio, Tiffany Derry, Michael Mina, Masaharu Morimoto, Wolfgang Puck and Roy Choi.
Educational sessions begin at lower prices than the major dinners and tasting parties. Several panels and seminars were listed from $95, including sessions on emerging beverage leaders, no- and low-alcohol cocktails, blind wine tasting and highly rated wines. Brand events began around $150, while announced lunches and dinners generally started between $195 and $350. The limited Opus One Vintner's Table experience at Carbone was listed from $1,000.
Those are starting prices, not a promise that every seat or ticket tier will remain available. Popular sessions and small dinners can sell out, and the official event calendar notes that more programming is coming.
How Much Are Weekend Passes?
Drink Las Vegas offers several bundles, but shoppers should read the inclusions carefully. The packages combine selected events rather than opening every door on the schedule.
- The Standard Pass: Listed at $1,530, with admission to nine experiences. It includes general admission to the major signature tastings, selected seminars or panels, a brand experience and one eligible lunch.
- The Select Pass: Listed at $2,185, with VIP access to the signature tastings, selected educational sessions, a brand experience, one eligible lunch and one eligible dinner.
- Signature Tastings Pass: Listed at $785 for general admission or $975 for VIP access to the three marquee signature tastings.
- The Inner Circle Pass: Listed at $600 and geared toward industry programming, with a choice of one VIP signature tasting plus selected seminars, panels and an industry-focused brand experience.
Individual event tickets are also available through the official festival schedule. Admission is restricted to guests 21 and older.
How to Build a Sensible Festival Weekend
The practical move is to choose one anchor event per day, then add a seminar, lunch or brand experience around it. Do not assume a weekend package includes every dinner you want, and leave enough travel time between resorts. Four properties may look close together on a map, but a Las Vegas casino has a way of turning a short walk into an expedition involving three escalators, a baccarat pit and somebody dressed like a Transformer.
Drink water, eat real meals and check the event location before leaving your room. Most importantly, buy for your actual interests. Whiskey fans can chase rare pours, wine drinkers have guided tastings and vintner dinners, and cocktail people can spend the weekend bouncing between technique, history and late-night spectacle.
Why This Festival Is Worth Watching
Drink Las Vegas arrives as more than a cocktail convention. The program treats bartenders, sommeliers and chefs as equal parts of the hospitality experience, which fits the modern Strip better than a festival devoted to only one bottle or one style of drink.
For locals, it is a chance to see several major culinary and beverage names without leaving the center of the Strip. For visitors, it offers a ready-made itinerary across four resorts. For somebody like me, who once considered a whiskey sour ambitious because it required two ingredients and a glass, it is another reminder that Las Vegas can turn a simple drink into a four-day production.
That may sound excessive back home. Out here, it sounds like September.
