A Big International Coffee Festival Comes to LA This Fall

An international coffee festival is coming to Los Angeles, reports industry publication Sprudge. The Los Angeles Coffee Festival will take place November 9 through 11 at Magic Box at The Reef just south of Downtown LA.

London-based Allegra Events puts on the event, which has taken place in London, New York, Milan, and Amsterdam in recent years. No Los Angeles-based coffee shops or roasters have been attached to the event yet, which has led to skepticism from Kyle Glanville, who co-founded G&B Coffee and Go Get Em Tiger. A festival planned in Cape Town was postponed to 2019 within a month of its announcement.

The Los Angeles festival will follow a similar format as previous iterations, with “live experiences from coffee, food and equipment suppliers,” plus demonstrations, live music, food trucks, and of course unlimited coffee samples. There’s also a latte art competition and a four-round Coffee Mixologists competition that pairs a bartender and mixologist to create drinks.

There are five three-hour sessions open to the public, with tickets for each session running $29 in advance or $40 day-of (plus a $3 fee). The $55 VIP pass allows all-day access (that price jacks up to $75 day-of). Alcoholic drinks must be purchased in advance, and those are $10.

Ten percent of ticket sales benefit Project Waterfall, managed by the event producer’s foundation, which has the mission to “to bring clean drinking water and sanitation to coffee growing communities around the world.”

• Los Angeles Coffee Festival [Official]