Flair Bartending - Current Competitions

Current Competitions

There are hundreds of flair bartending competitions around the world each year, most of which are local and not well publicized. In 2005 the Flair Bartenders Association (FBA) launched the FBA Pro Tour, a linked series of events where competitors earn points toward the title Pro Tour Champion at the end of the year. In 2007 there were 14 events on the Pro Tour with 7 of them located in the USA.

Five-Time World Champion Ken Hall and Jim Allison, president of the FBA, organized six of those seven events. The flagship flair bartending event is Legends of Bartending, which celebrated its 12th year in 2010.

Some the biggest flair bartending events all over the World includes

• Roadhouse World Flair in (covent garden) London, Uk _{After TGI Fridays, the longest running flair competition}
• Underground Flair League (UFL) Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Legends of Bartending (Las Vegas, USA)
• Quest (Orlando - the oldest major flair competition in the world)
• Skyy Global Flair Challenge in 14 different countries incl. China, UK, Canada, Israel, Czech Republic, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, etc.

The International Bartenders Association was founded in 1951. In 2000, the IBA initiated a World Flair Competition. This event is held at the IBA's annual congress of members, together with the organisation's World Classic Cocktail Competition (inaugurated in 1955).

The newest major events to gain credibility among top competitors include:

• Underground Flair Space (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
• Umag Daylight (Croatia)
• Helsinki Onnela Flair Master (Finland)
• Brasil Open Flair (São Paulo, Brazil)
• Flair Vegas (Las Vegas, USA)
• Champions Flair Crash (Romania)
• IFL (Poland)
• US Flair Open (USA)
• The Blue Blazer Challenge (Las Vegas, USA).
• The Graffiti Flair Challenge (London, UK)

Major events almost always have a prize money of US $20,000 or more, and most of today's majors including Legends, Nations, Quest and Roadhouse World Flair in London.