Now the dust has settled...

And... breath out.
September

What a crazy couple of months we've had here, apologies for the delay in the latest blog! Since Cowes (which incidentally we have just secured another 5 years on) Tiesto, Field Day and Red Bull X Fighters we went headfirst into the Tower of London's very own music festival: Tower Festival, situated in the moat (yes) of the Tower of London. A strange location you may think - but was treuly breathtaking to run a 10 day event in somewhere so grand and unique. Apart from a lot of carrying stock up and down stairs, it was a huge success - highlights being Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Nigel Kennedy and Womad. We ran the main bar and VIP lounge hosted by Continental Airways for the duration of the 10 day event.
Bestival

Whilst this was all going on, we ran all the bars at little event on the Isle of Wight called Bestival. (!) It was our 6^th year to deliver a total of fifteen bars on site, including the popular flag-ship cocktail bars The Black Dahlia and Pink Flamingo. Other bars included the Wonderland Inn with huge furry animals sitting on the bar, the Village Pub serving Bestiv-Ale, space-aged bars for Red Bull and Jim Beam and 90metres of bar to service the newly located main stage, among nine others to service the 45,000 ticket holders.

"It was a fantastic year for us at Bestival. It was so good to see such a great turnout and people enjoying themselves in the good weather despite the current climate. I think being on an island helps people to really escape – we certainly didn’t see people holding themselves back at the bars!"

Many thanks to all the team at Bestival - a challenging, but thoroughly enjoyable week. We are already formulating the master plan Bestival's 7th birthday in 2010

Other News

The Moose Bar

Our very own log cabin pop-up bar in the heart of London's financial district is returning bigger and better! Our very own Moose Bar as part of Canary Wharf Ice rink returns one week earlier this year and is open from Saturday 14th November 2009 - Sunday 21st February 2010.

This year the bar is bigger, more music and entertainment and dedicated corporate space. We have teamed up with Balmlane Events to bring excellent corporate packages. For more info on these packages click here to view the PDF.

The Boiler House @ Battersea Power Station

Following our success running the bars at this venue for Red Bull X Fighters, we have just been appointed preferred bar suppliers to London's newest and most unique event's venue - "The Boiler House @ Battersea Power Station." This venue is open for the next 2 - 3 years before one of Europe's largest re-development projects commences. We are extremely excited to be working alongside 1st Option Management, who represent some of the UK's best event spaces. You can visit their website by clicking here.

That just leaves Christmas - we're already busy putting together Event and Bar packages for seasonal month of December - its coming around quicker than you think! If you need something totally unique, speak to us - we're bored of the normal, boring venues, themes and venues - contact us we have some great ideas.

Bar Builds

We currently in the middle of designing and building some great new bars on behalf of our experiential clients - structures that can be used at a variety of events and festival - but can be carried around the country. Whatever you want, we can do it! We have an excellent in-house design team ready to make your ideas come to life. have a read on our website here about what we do, or give us a call on 0845 226 7845 ext 221.

Cowes Review

It was the sixth year for us at Peppermint Shepards Wharf in Cowes this year and once again the week was a resounding success for the crews, friends and families of the competitors of Cowes week, the world’s largest sailing regatta.

With the likes of Brian Adams, Zara Phillips and Joe Worsley in attendance, its proof that Peppermint Shepards Wharf was the place to be this Cowes week. For the full Cowes write up visit our blog or look in Hello magazine for the review.

Peppermint Shepards Wharf was open for the 7 days of the regatta boasting 3 bars, a stunning Pier bar overlooking the Medina, Club Infernos nightclub and a trade village and a sit down restaurant. We have just signed another 5 years at Shepards Wharf, proof that we're in it for the long haul and continue our quest to be THE place to be during Cowes week for the competitors...

X marks the spot.

Excitement is mounting here at the Peppermint H.Q as it's not only friday ...but also the day before what will undoubtedly be the coolest, most exhilerating event of the year - RED BULL X-FIGHTERS. Held at the Battersea Power Station, the boys at Red Bull promise to have you jumping out of your seats as stunt motorcyclists perform their most death defying stunts over tonnes of dirt and thousands of gawping spectators. Peppermint Bars will be there with knobs on, cooling off even the most flustered of viewers! Expect to see us looking fresh, dishing out beers, ciders, wines, Red Bull by the crate and maybe a sniff of vodka too.. !

Hold onto your hats, we'll be back next week with all the news, reviews and hopefully some sweet shots of the most breathtaking action the big smoke has ever seen!

Peppermint back and fresher than ever!

Well, what a long time it's been since the last blog - and so much has happened!

The last weekend in July saw the busiest weekend of the Peppermint Summer with our triple header weekend of Secret Garden Party, Camp Bestival and the Ben & Jerrys Summer Sundae and I'm happy to report we hit the ground running! With three events, infamous and incredible in their own right, the only complaint to be heard was that they were all on the same weekend!!

Still, the weekend saw Peppermint faces, old and new come together to provide shots, cocktails, pints and beverages of every kind in their thousands and you loved it! With the sun shining down on us (for all of 5 minutes!) we all had an epic time doing our thing and we know you did too!

My festival of choice (a tough, TOUGH one to call) had to be Secret Garden Party, which since its induction in 2004 has fast become the best (and not so well kept) secret in the UK festival scene. With super big time acts such as Jarvis Cocker and Rodrigo & Gabriella being a super small contribution to the colourful and riotus 4 day party, it's no wonder Peppermint fitted in so well. From cocktails served in Watering Cans, fresh Pineapples and Melons to ice cold pints of cider and lager and delivered by our loyal army of Volunteers and our in house team of hippy Pepperminters, this was not event to be missed by anyone!

Last weekend saw a completely different set of events in the funky Victoria Park. With a Tiesto gig on friday that saw 2,000 VIPs alone, thousands of die hard fans gathered to watch the sun go down to the World's most revered DJ, cool pint in hand and dancing shoes on feet!

The Saturday welcomed Field Day: the cool kids' new favourite event that embraced all ranges of music from rock to pop and grime to funky house. In true British style, the rain came out and you all came in the bars to sample more cocktails, traditional ales and good old pints! Well, what else does a Brit do in the rain?!

No sooner had the last drink been finished, it was time to head down to Cowes Week on the Isle of Wight, the UK's largest sailing regatta. The place to be: Shepard's Wharf, Peppermint's very own slice of the action. During the week, thousands of sailors, wannabe sailors and good old spectators flocked into our Wharf to get involved. With our bars gleaming and staff beaming from the well deserved break from the festival scene, what a truly splendid affair it turned out to be!

What's next for Peppermint I hear you ask? I wish I could say a jolly good rest but I'm afraid no such luck in that department! With two of our biggest events on the way, we're still packing, building, planning to make our bars bigger, better and even more loved than ever in time for the highly anticipated RED BULL XFIGHTERS and our favourite season ender BESTIVAL where it's all hands on deck and no one rests until the first leaf falls from the tree!

To all of you that have read the entirity of this blog- well done, you are truly mad!

Emilie x

For more pictures : http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=902481&id=272900756#/album.php?aid=35646&id=272900756

Techno, Tequila, Tempests.

(Glade 2008)

Hello Summer and goodbye Sun!

It's a little joke within the industry that you can always tell when the season starts..by the rain!
And whilst I'm still clinging onto hopes of sipping one of our ice cold cocktails at a scorching Secret Garden Party I can't help but notice the huge, black cloud that appears permanently wedged outside the Peppermint window.. here's hoping it's just mother nature going through a (short) phase..

..Fortunately, the weather will prove totally insignificant for the hardcore attendees of our next big festival GLADE !!

Those hippy ravers will have no trouble doing their thing rain or shine and I for one am with them! Hosted this year at the Matterley Bowl in Winchester, Glade promises to be one of the highlights of the Peppermint Summer with a whole host of fabulous DJs including Underworld, Squarepusher and Booka Shade. (check out the full lineup at http://www.gladefestival.com/)

With our staff and volunteers raring to get onto the field, it's just a matter of counting down the days. See you there and don't forget the wellies!!

Peppermint - What will they do next!?

It's monday and we're back at our H.Q in Colliers Wood.
I have to admit, it would be a lie if I said I wasn't pining to go back to Beach Break, what a fantastic week! Every year there is always the worry that the coming year won't quite live up to the last but this year shows promise of being even better!

The new and improved Peppermint team are all we could hope for: fun, hardworking and passionate (our cocktail bartenders in particular are some of the best in the game!)

All in all it was an incredible week: not a cloud in the sky, great music, a great crowd (students represent!) and a great vibe! And it's only the beginning...

Over the next few weeks we're hitting up events of every type, starting off with Polo in The Park and Loop festival in Brighton, moving onto our favourite dance festival Glade, Music on the Moor, Hevy Festival, Cowes Week, Field Day and rounding off July with our TRIPLE header weekend (!!) which will include Secret Garden Party, Camp Bestival, Ben and Jerry's Summer Sundae festival! It's a good job we don't like twiddling our thumbs because it's going to be a big one!

For all your twitterers, don't forget to follow us on www.twitter.com/peppermintbars

Stay classy, festival heads.

BEACH BREAK LIVE! DAY 3

So we're back in the dirty, sunny bliss that is the festival season and halfway through our first major festival BEACH BREAK LIVE. So after the ups and the downs, the event is going spectacularly with a whole line of amazing acts playing (friendly fires being my top favourite), the sun high in the sky and students soaking up the rays and the music in the new location of Kent!

Our Peppermint team has been working tirelessly to bring these scally students great drinks and a great atmosphere, but it's almost over!! Dizzee plays tonight and there's a buzz in the air for it!! But for now, it's time for me to check on the team and top up my sunburn, check out the photos next week!

Emilie x

Polo In The Park - what a weekend!

So we've just finished our first event- Polo In The Park!

A new event for us and we rose to the challenge and had a fantastic time! With lovely Polo players and champagne aplenty, our staff rose to the challenge and we loved every minute of it. As the first Polo match in central London for over 75 years, we at Peppermint were delighted to be involved. Our bars looked gorgeous and the staff looked as sexy as ever in their posh uniforms and cheeky smiles... check out the photos!

Moving forward, we're so excited about our future events, the next of which is the infamous Duke of Essex Polo.. and after that we start rolling with the festivals... and no one is anticipating it more than us!

Ready, steady, go!

Well, everyone's been trained, the event plans are close to completion and we're just about ready to be flung head first into a very busy and exciting summer, hold on tight!

Events include Glade, Secret Garden Party, Field Day, Tiesto, Bestival (and her little sister Camp Bestival), Hevy Festival, Red Bull X Fighters and many more (and more soon to be confirmed.)

We're also getting ready for our site at Cowes Week (if you live on the Isle of Wight and you have bar experience send your cv to mailto:cv@peppermintbars.co.uk) as well as Polo in the Park which kicks off in just over a week's time.

More to come soon, piccy's to follow also. In the meantime, follow us at http://www.twitter.com/peppermintbars

BBC makes it official, we're in for a hot one!!

Well, the BBC have told us it's going to be a long hot and DRY (!!) Summer this Summer which I for one am taking as gospel.

Hello, sun tan and ice cold cider and goodbye wet socks and ponchos.
(note: anyone seen wearing a poncho in the name of fashion will be removed from our bars and chased off site by our charming fleet of rottweilers!)

So anyway, here at H.Q it is getting busy, busy, busy! I for one have worked tirelessly at ensuring that the best of the best in delicious cocktails are brought to you this Summer, by extensive and exhausting tasting sessions. It's a hard life for poor little interns!


In other news..


Our lovely warehouse guys have been making all of our bars look super pretty and we'll soon be ready to head into the sun, with the Peppermint lorries in tow, ready to rock your pallets from the inside out!


Anyway, the sun is out, it's 5.45pm and home time beckons, along with a lovely pint along the Thames. More next week!

Sunshine Cocktails

Well, sorry for the week break, but the last couple of weeks have been pretty busy for us. Volunteer recruitment for Secret Garden Party has gone just crazy and we're now FULL UP! That's a record! Beach Break Live and Glade are starting to fly as well now, it wont be long until we have all the volunteers we need.

As for our other staff, recruitment is going well - we have some great people joining the Peppermint team - never before have we been inundated with so many CV's and people interested to work: I guess one positive for us in the current climate.

This week we're finalising our summer season's cocktail recipes and we have Glen (our head Mixologist) coming in to trial our shortlist. Its a good job this "tasting" has been scheduled for Friday 5pm eh?!!!

First event in 3 weeks time: Polo in the Park - cant wait.

www.peppermintbars.co.uk

Before the crazyness starts...

Well, the evenings are definately getting lighter and we've spent the last week in our head office in Colliers Wood baked in glorious sunshine, makes us think how much we're looking forward to the summer, but also, argh! how close we are! Still we can't wait and we start the season with Polo in the Park on the 5th June...

http://www.peppermintbars.co.uk