DC Cocktail Week 2026 runs Monday 30 November to Sunday 6 December. The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington produces the week, and each participating venue sells a cocktail and a bite at one price.
Two levels, one fee
Registration offers two levels. Core covers the cocktail-and-bite pairing. Elevated covers the pairing plus an event, a class or a happy hour that the venue hosts.
The level does not change the fee. The registration form states one fee per location.
The dates a planner works to
The early-bird fee is $100 through Tuesday 27 October. Registration closes Sunday 15 November. A venue supplies its cocktail description and a photo by 15 November.
The site opens its venue pages and the full lineup on Sunday 1 November. That date decides when a team can see which venues have signed up.
What the venue sets
The venue sets the price of its pairing. RAMW states that no promotional price is fixed. A class or a tasting carries the venue's own ticket, and the booking link on the venue's page opens the venue's own system. Guests book with the venue.
The venue also sets when guests can order: happy hour only, all day, or lunch only, on each day it opens between 30 November and 6 December.
What a team buys
A class with a stated price per head, a start time and a room capacity turns a December evening into one line of a trip budget. Ask for the ticket price, the class length, the capacity and the deposit.
A participating venue holds a brick-and-mortar address in DC, Maryland or Virginia.
Five questions for the venue
Is the venue registered, and at which level? What is the ticket price per head, and does it cover the cocktail and the bite? What is the class length and the room capacity? What deposit and cancellation terms apply to a company booking? And can the venue invoice one party?
The last question carries the administration. A venue selling through its own link issues individual tickets, and a team that needs one invoice settles the method before anyone registers.
Rooms around the class
A class in the first week of December sits inside the holiday season, and the room side needs booking first. bookMyTeam takes the destination, the dates, room counts by type and any special requirements in one request, and hotels in the destination return group rates and terms. Submitting is free, and hotels answer in 24 to 72 hours.
