Now on its fifth year, the biggest cocktail showcase and celebration in Southeast Asia is set to have its most extensive program lineup so far, and we’re excited for Filipino talents scheduled to have their guest shifts during the festivity.

Filipino bartenders from top bars in Manila will be featured during this exciting 9-day festival, showing off our talent in crafting cocktails and spirits that will impress the global audience visiting Singapore. Mark your calendars.


Click here for the list of COCKTAIL EXPERIENCES AND BAR SHIFTS AROUND SINGAPORE FOR SGCF 2019 


The Curator/Oto Team 

Members of the bar team behind The Curator (ranked 25 at Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2018 and the only establishment in the Philippines to make the prestigious list) and Oto will be slinging cocktails that punch up the flavors of the Philippines. Co-founders of The Curator, Jericson Co and David Ong, who has done bar shifts in Singapore in the past, will be leading the guest shifts at some of the most prestigious Singapore bars together with their talented bartenders Sciemon Maquirang and Karina Lugtu. Here’s a list of their shift schedules:

1) The Curator Manila Pop Up The Flavours of Philippines Experience featuring Jericson Co, Sciemon Maquirang, and Karina Lugtu
Date: May 10, 2019, Friday
Time: 10:00 pm to 2:00 am 
Venue: Nutmeg & Clove, 10 Ann Siang Hill, Singapore 069789

2) David Ong (The Curator, Manila)
Date: May 10, 2019, Friday
Where: La Terre, 11 Upper Circular Rd, #01-01, Singapore 058409
Time: 6 to 8:30 pm and 9 to 11:30 pm

3) David Ong and Jericson Co (The Curator/OTO, Manila) 
Date: May 11, Saturday 
Where: Jigger & Pony, 165 Tanjong Pagar Rd, Amara Hotel, Singapore 088539 
Time: 11:00 pm to 3:00 am 

4) Date: May 12 (Trade event, Invite-only)
What Makes A Winning Bar?
Speaker: David Ong (The Curator, Manila)
Time: 1:45 pm to 2.30 pm 

5) The Curator
Date: May 13, Monday 
Where: The Horse’s Mouth, 583 Orchard Road, Forum the Shopping Mall, #B1-39, Singapore 238884
Time: 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm

6) Oto
Date: May 16, Thursday 
Where: Tess Bar & Kitchen, 38 Seah St, Singapore 188394
Time: 7:00 pm t0 11:00 pm

7) David Ong and David Abalayan (OTO, Manila)
Date: May 17, Friday
Where: Flagship, 20 Bukit Pasoh Rd, Singapore 089834
Time: 9:00 pm to 1:00 am

8) Oto
Date: May 18, Saturday 
Where: Origin, Tower Wing, Lobby Level, Shangri-La, 22 Orange Grove Road, 258350, Singapore
Time: 9:00 pm to 1:00 am

David Ong

Flavours of Southeast Asia Experience featuring Lester Ligon from Proof

Date: May 11, 2019, Saturday
Time: 7:00 pm till late
Venue: Nutmeg & Clove, 10 Ann Siang Hill, Singapore 069789

It’s a Pinoy back-to-back shift at Nutmeg & Clove, as Lester Ligon from Proof (formerly ABV) takes the reins on a summer Saturday night. Lester was the Philippine representative to the Diageo Reserve World Class Competition 2018 Finals in Berlin. The Manila cocktail scene touted Lester as the “Pia Wurtzbach” of World Class PH after competing for three consecutive years; he finally landed the title. The patience, progress, passion, and perseverance paid off, as he placed 6th in the world at the Finals and won the Ketel One Better Drinking challenge for his cocktail inspired by Marawi.

Lester will be whipping up cocktails with flavors from all over South East Asia, sharing his craft to the Singapore drinking crowd and taking them on a cocktail experience across the region.

Don Papa Rum at the Artisanal Tasting Room 

Date: May 10 to 12 2019, Friday to Sunday
Time: 4:00 pm to 11:00 pm
Venue: Festival Village @ Empress Lawn, 10 Empress Pl, Singapore 179555
Don Papa Rum at SGCF 2019

Don Papa Rum, the premium aged, single-island rum from the island of Negros, will be present in the Festival Village as one of the spirit brands in the Artisanal Spirits Tasting Room. Aged for seven years in American oak barrels before being blended, Don Papa, with its distinct vanilla and caramel notes, has become popular with rum aficionados around the world.

The Artisanal Tasting Room, which features handcrafted small-batch spirits, is a key component of the Festival Village. It is where you get acquainted with a range of extraordinary craft spirits and meet the people who make them. Tasting Cards for $19, which gets you four shots (15ml) of the spirits you want to sample, are available for purchase.

Richie Cruz Behind the Stick at Tess Bar & Kitchen (Cobbler Bar, Manila)

Date: May 15, Wednesday
Time: 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm
Venue: Tess Bar & Kitchen, 38 Seah St, Singapore 188394

Bar industry veteran Richie Cruz will be showcasing his signature cocktails for the thirsty crowd of Tess Bar & Kitchen, a modern industrial chic resto-bar with a focus on a modern interpretation of cocktails and food.

Richie has been an instrument in the developing cocktail scene in Manila, he was the Philippine’s First Bacardi Legacy Cocktail Competition Champion in 2016, and now one of the owners of Cobbler bar in Marikina and an educator for young and aspiring bartenders at Center for Bartending and Tourism Academy Inc. Support him on his bar shift as he showcases Filipino inspired creations for during the cocktail festival.

One Thousand and One Drunken Nights featuring Jay Natividad and Ian Libang from The Spirits Library & Nokal

Date: May 16 & 17 2019, Thursday and Friday
Time: 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm
Venue: Fat Prince, 48 Peck Seah St. Singapore 079317
Jay Natividad

No need to take a magic carpet ride to somewhere exotic for great drinks, for two nights, bartenders Jay Natividad and Ian Libang from The Spirits Library and Nokal will be mixing cocktails inspired by a book collection of middle eastern folk tales originally 1001 Nights, behind the bar of Fat Prince.

Jay and Ian are no strangers to the Singapore Cocktail Festival, having won (together with JW Marriott Hong Kong’s Jon Bunuoan) 2018’s Asia Bar Battle, where country-led bartending teams compete in a series of high-energy challenges, besting Team Taiwan and defending champion Team Singapore! These two both made it to the final five of Glenfiddich’s Most Experimental Bartender 2018 competition, and Jay recently represented the Philippines in the Giffard West Cup regional finals in Malaysia last month.

Ian Libang

Fat Prince is a bistro and café by day, and bar at night, that serves taqueria-inspired kebabs and tapas. It has a palette of gold, dark wood, and deep blue, and an ambiance that mixes Turkish café culture with European influences. Casual yet classy, bohemian yet modern, Fat Prince is a great venue to have two of our talented bartenders once again show the Singapore crowd what they’re made of.


Want to go to Singapore for free? Click on this link to join our contest and get a chance to win a 3-day, 2-night trip for two to Singapore Cocktail Festival 2019!


Fat Prince, Tess Bar & Kitchen, Jigger & Pony, and Nutmeg & Clove are part of over 45 bars in Singapore Cocktail Festival’s Cocktail Passport. The Cocktail Passport entitles you to exclusive cocktail promos. They’re partnered with the Sluggr app, so you can redeem the promos and enjoy exclusive contests and offers in-app, as well as information about special events, guest shifts, masterclasses, and workshops. The SGCF portal goes live this April, and the Sluggr app is free to download and use in both iPhone and Android devices.



Click this link to view the complete guide to SGCF 2019


Visit www.singaporecocktailfestival.com for the full list of bars and promos. For updates, follow SGCF on Facebook and Instagram @sgcocktailfest and the hashtags #SGCF2019, #SGCFCocktailFest, #SGCFCocktailPassport.

Beyond the cocktail festival, check out other exciting nightlife and entertainment offerings awaiting you in Singapore! Visit www.visitsingapore.com or follow them on Twitter @visitsingapore and Facebook at VisitSingaporePH, and @Visit_Singapore on Instagram for more information. 

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