About Spoleto Sips
Spoleto Festival USA would not be possible without our community’s remarkable hospitality industry. Again this year, Spoleto will partner with select Charleston bars and restaurants near Festival venues to create signature Spoleto-inspired drinks or offer beverage specials for ticket- holders. This cocktail campaign is promoted through Festival social media platforms and targeted email marketing.
Partnership Terms
- By May 23, the restaurant will create a Spoleto- inspired drink and provide the name of the drink and the recipe.
- The restaurant must include this drink on their menus beginning on or before May 23 through June 11.
- The restaurant is encouraged to provide photography of the drink or allow Spoleto staff to photograph the drink for posting purposes. When possible, Spoleto will engage strategic Festival artists to be photographed with the drinks in the restaurant.
- The restaurant will help promote this beverage on social media platforms leading up to the Festival and tag @SpoletoFestivalUSA and use the hashtag #SpoletoSips
- In exchange, Spoleto Festival USA will give the restaurant four tickets to a performance (pending availability – a list will be provided). The restaurant can use these at its discretion. Spoleto Festival USA will outline each participating restaurant on Spoleto’s website at spoletousa.org.
- Participating locations will also be showcased in Festival emails to its database as well as on Spoleto social media platforms which reach over a combined 50K people.
About Spoleto Festival USA
For 17 days and nights each spring, Spoleto Festival USA fills Charleston’s historic theaters, churches, and outdoor spaces with performances in opera; theater; dance; and chamber, symphonic, choral, and jazz music. Spoleto’s mission is to present programs of the highest artistic caliber while maintaining a dedication to young artists, a commitment to all forms of the performing arts, a passion for contemporary innovation, and an enthusiasm for providing unique performance opportunities for established artists. Beyond its role as a launching pad for young talent, Spoleto also serves as a catalyst for cultural change and has aided in Charleston’s flourishing as a top arts and culture destination. With General Director Mena Mark Hanna at its helm, the 2023 season takes place May 26 to June 11 in various locations on the downtown peninsula.
Spoleto Festival USA is a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization.
Questions?
Reach out to Katie Franklin [email protected] for more information!
2019 Spoleto Sips Participants & drink descriptions:
Looking for a pre-show beverage or an after-show refresher? Spoleto Festival USA has partnered with 23 Charleston restaurants to create Spoleto-inspired cocktails that will appear on menus through June 9. Stop by any of these hot-spots to get an elevated Spoleto experience with these cleverly crafted drinks. From pink peppercorn–infused tequila to cooling cucumber and mint flavors, there is a wide variety to choose from and something for everyone of age—though there’s even an option for those who choose not to imbibe. Better still? All restaurant locations are within walking distance of many 2019 venues.
Check out the map below showing all participating restaurants in relation to the theaters:
All locations are downtown and a short distance from any of the theaters. Don’t forget to snap a pic of your drink and tag #SpoletoSips and #SFUSA2019!
McCrady’s Tavern
“The Brown Derby,” inspired by Classical Showcase
Ingredients: Old Grand-Dad bourbon, grapefruit, lemon, honey
Tradd’s
“Viola,” inspired by Shakespeare’s Globe’s performances of Twelfth Night
Ingredients: gin, crème de violette, maraschino liqueur, lemon juice, Champagne, edible flower garnish
Millers All Day
“The Spoleto Collins”
Ingredients: Sutler’s Gin, Pedro Ximénez Sherry, lemon juice, strawberry-basil syrup, soda
Poogan’s Porch and Poogan’s Smokehouse
“Poogan’s Prosperity,” inspired by the history of the Festival and the shared love of arts between Charleston and Spoleto, Italy.
Ingredients: gin, prosecco, elderflower, crème de violet, pomegranate juice, edible flower garnish
Minero
“Los Santos Sangria,” inspired by Path of Miracles at the Charleston Gaillard Center
Ingredients: rosé, passion fruit liqueur, peach, lemon
Husk
“Between 1st and A,” inspired by the bluegrass concerts of I’m With Her and Punch Brothers at the College of Charleston Cistern Yard
Ingredients: Sacred Bond Brandy, Applejack Brandy, crème de cassis, mint demerara syrup, lemon juice, mint, soda water, blackberry garnish
Le Farfalle
“Cigarette Girl,” inspired by Carla Bley – Trios at the College of Charleston Cistern Yard
Ingredients: Henry McKenna Single Barrel bourbon, Cocchi Vermouth di Torino, Averna, orange bitters, Angostura bitters, smoked ice
The Watch Rooftop Kitchen & Bar
“Curtain Call”
Ingredients: Citadelle Gin, Giffard Pamplemousse, St. Germain, grapefruit juice, lime juice, mint, cucumber, lavender
The Charleston Gaillard Center is Charleston’s grand performing arts venue that will house Salome, Path of Miracles, Compagnie Hervé Koubi, Prokofiev and Shostakovich, One Thousand and One Nights, St. John Passion, and Dafnis Prieto Big Band.
Doar Bros.
“Due Mondi,” inspired by Spoleto Festival USA’s roots in Italy and a celebration of dual world flavors
Ingredients: Hat Trick Botanical Gin, Amaro al Tartufo, Carolina peaches, prosecco
Zero Restaurant + Bar
“The Cocktail of Errors” is inspired by Shakespeare’s Globe’s performances of The Comedy of Errors. This restaurant is a 0.7-mile walk from Dock Street Theatre. (It’s also right across the street from the Charleston Gaillard Center.)
Ingredients: Plymouth gin, fresh-squeezed orange juice, Giffard lychee liqueur, Suze, egg white
Basic Kitchen
“Garden of Good”, inspired by 1927’s world premiere production, Roots, at the Emmett Robinson Theatre
Ingredients: parsley verdita (pineapple, apple, parsley, cilantro, jalapeno), and lemon, mixed with Seedlip, a non-alcoholic spirit, or tequila
Victor Social Club
“Victor Virelles,” inspired by David Virelles’s concerts at the Simons Center Recital Hall
Ingredients: jalapeño-infused tequila, St. Germain, strawberry
O-Ku
“Menotti’s Composed Pie,” inspired by the Festival’s founder, Gian Carlo Menotti
Ingredients: shochu, blueberry, vanilla, pineapple shrub, lemon-herb meringue whip
Parcel 32
“Ekphrasis”
Ingredients: strawberries; mint; rum; lime juice; lavender simple syrup; soda; mint, strawberry, and lemon garnish
Wild Common
“Pay No Attention to the Color,” inspired by Target Margin Theater’s Pay No Attention to the Girl at Woolfe Street Playhouse
Ingredients: pink peppercorn–infused tequila, Cocchi Rosa, rhubarb liqueur, grapefruit cordial, lime juice, club soda, jasmine flower garnish
Joséphine Wine Bar
“Salome’s Seven Veils,” inspired by the opera Salome at the Charleston Gaillard Center
Ingredients: Kirschwasser, St.Germain, Dolin Blanc, grapefruit juice, Bittercube Jamaican No. 2 Bitters, house-made hibiscus syrup
Joséphine Wine Bar is also offering Festivalgoers a special three-course Spoleto prix fixe tasting menu, with optional wine pairings.
Felix
“King Herod,” inspired by the opera Salome at the Charleston Gaillard Center
Ingredients: bourbon, Lapsang Souchong demerara syrup, Bénédictine, black walnut bitters, orange twist garnish
The Macintosh
“Prince of Tyre,” inspired by Shakespeare’s Globe’s performances of Pericles at the Dock Street Theatre
Ingredients: Beefeater Gin, Dolin Génépy le Chamois, Yellow Chartreuse, Bittermans Orange Cream Citrate
HoM
“The Pink Slipper”
Ingredients: sparkling wine, Aperol, orangecello, soda, orange peel garnish
Prohibition
“The Fever,” inspired by 600 HIGHWAYMEN’s The Fever at Woolfe Street Playhouse
Ingredients: gin, green apple syrup, lime juice, cardamom bitters
Vintage Lounge
“Coppa di Spoleto”
Ingredients: Pimm’s no. 1, Lillet Rose, gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, rhubarb bitters, Angostura bitters, soda, lemon garnish
The Darling
“Spoleto Swizzle”
Ingredients: Velvet falernum, white rum, orange juice, pineapple
Cocktail Club
“End SCENE”
Ingredients: Hendrick’s Gin, Del Professore Classico Bianco, fresh-pressed grape, lemon, simple syrup, soda water
