Seven Philadelphia bartenders, one room, and a crowd with phones: that is the Día de Muertos cocktail competition Dirty Rocks is hosting at Franky Bradley’s on Sunday, November 1. Espolón sponsors it, and the vote belongs to the guests. You taste, you vote on your phone, and the bartender with the most votes is crowned on stage.
The event has moved to Franky Bradley’s, at 1320 Chancellor Street in Center City, after Dirty Rocks held its August competition at Fringe Bar, where nine bartenders worked with Patrón. The bartenders come from Philadelphia bars including Friday Saturday Sunday, a.bar and Static!, with more to be added.
How the Día de Muertos Cocktail Competition Works
Dirty Rocks keeps the format simple, and the Día de Muertos cocktail competition follows the same idea as the August event with a smaller field. Each of the seven bartenders makes a cocktail, guests taste, and the voting happens on a phone in the room. The pitch is plain: “You taste. You vote. You crown the winner.”
General admission gets one tasting and six votes. An All-Access pass adds a tasting from every bartender and 30 votes, which gives those guests a real say in the result. Votes have mattered before: in May, Jessica Stark of Trestle Inn won a Dirty Rocks competition by exactly one vote.
Some of the bars have faced a Dirty Rocks crowd before. Static! sent Tony Jimenez to the August competition at Fringe Bar, where every bartender made a tequila cocktail for the same voting audience. At the Día de Muertos cocktail competition, guests can compare seven different takes within one afternoon and decide which one deserves the crown.
Cocktails by Espolón are part of the afternoon, along with Espolón swag and giveaways. Espolón is the tequila brand presenting the day, and the winner is announced on stage once the votes are counted.
Tickets and Doors for the Día de Muertos Cocktail Competition
General admission is $45. Doors open at 3 p.m., and the pass includes one free tasting, six votes and a free buffet. All-Access guests get in at 2 p.m. with the full run of tastings and the larger vote count. Passes are sold at app.dirtyrocks.com, and the organizers say the last Dirty Rocks event sold out in four days.
The ticket page promises a no-risk afternoon, with a money-back guarantee if you do not love it. It also says there is no bottle service and no velvet rope, only a room, a buffet and a vote. Doors, tastings and voting all happen in the same afternoon, so guests can arrive, eat, sip and weigh in without leaving the building. The room is Franky Bradley’s, a Chancellor Street fixture since 2015.
What Else Is on at the Día de Muertos Cocktail Competition Agenda
Beyond the cocktails, the day includes a live DJ, face painting and a complimentary buffet. A best-dressed costume contest runs for anyone who wants to come in costume, though nobody has to. The release puts it simply: come as you are, and a costume is not necessary.
Día de Muertos itself runs November 1 and 2, and families mark it by remembering loved ones who have died, with ofrendas, marigolds and sugar skulls. The date gives a bar event a ready-made theme. Face painting and a costume contest fit comfortably inside that visual language. The giveaways come with official rules, which are available at the door.
November 1 falls the day after Halloween, so the Día de Muertos cocktail competition gives the season one more costume party. Franky Bradley’s has several rooms, including the main bar, a downstairs dining room and an upstairs club, and the venue bills itself as a bar, restaurant, dance club and music venue.
Dirty Rocks built its name on getting strangers to talk over good drinks, and the Día de Muertos cocktail competition does it with seven bartenders and one question. Which cocktail would you crown? On Sunday, the crowd gets to answer it.
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