Rum Festival Season
Luis Ayala, Editor of "Got Rum?" magazine, Rum Consultant and Founder of The Rum University
Luis Ayala, Editor and Rum Consultant
We are entering the beginning of rum festival season. Rum lovers around the world will be rewarded with exhibits from distillers and private label owners whose rums are normally beyond their reach. Brand representatives will also use the festivals to strengthen existing or to develop new distribution relationships in different parts of the world.
As we prepare to carry out these activities, however, it is important to keep in mind the meaning and origin of the festivals themselves.
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a festival as: “a time of celebration marked by special observances” or “an often periodic celebration or program of events or entertainment having a specified focus”. The words “Festival,” “Feast” and “Fiesta” are related and all symbolize events celebrated by communities, typically centered on religious, folkloric or agricultural aspects of the society.
For many of the rum-producing areas in the Northern Hemisphere, now is also the time of the year when the sugarcane harvest comes to an end, so it is easy for me to also see the rum festivals as cane harvest celebrations.
As consumers and industry members gather to celebrate the distilled spirit of the sweet grass, it is important to recognize the hard work of the farmers, mill workers and distillers, without whose help our rum bottles and drinking glasses would be empty. It is also important to make sure our practices along the supply chain are sustainable, so future generations may also enjoy these products and the festivals they will form a part of.
Festivals are, after all, gathering places for like-minded individuals and organizations, so there is no better place than a festival to point out deficiencies and to come up with plans to improve the industry.
Cheers,
Luis Ayala, Editor and Publisher