Mariah Carey to take over a slice of London with Christmas pop-up bar
All I want for Christmas is a Black Irish cocktail
Mariah Carey is always a part of Christmas in London — whether you like it or not — and fans get another way to give the season a sprinkle of Mariah glitter thanks to Mariah Carey’s Holiday Bar.
This is a cocktail “experience” in London’s Mayfair area, although exactly where it will live remains a mystery.
The Mariah Carey Holiday bar opens on 19th November, and unfortunately this is one you’ll have to buy a ticket for, rather than just rock up to the glittery door. You scan sign up for pre-sale details over at the website.
As you may well guess, Mariah Carey’s Holiday Bar is as much about a social media-ready photo opportunity as it is a signature cocktail. We’re promised “wall-to-wall festive décor” and “interactive photo moments.”
This is the first time Mariah Carey’s Holiday Bar pop-up has come to London, but the concept has run for a couple of years in the US. And that means there’s plenty of content on roughly what we can expect over at YouTube.
There are loads of local news channels and influencers with pieces on the pop-ups from last year to watch. One recurring element: a Christmas sleigh you can pap an Instagram pic in.
You can expect drinks to lean heavily on Irish cream, as Mariah Carey's own-brand drink is Black Irish. It’s a Baileys-a-like Irish Cream that comes in original, salted caramel and white chocolate flavours.
This year the Mariah Carey’s Holiday Bar pop-up will open in eight cities. There’s Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and San Diego in the US, as well as — for the first time — London.
“This year, we're making my holiday bars even more fabulous and bringing the celebration to more cities than ever before! Think festive cocktails, wall-to-wall sparkle, and plenty of surprises. I can't wait for everyone to celebrate with us,” Mariah Carey (or at least an official representative) said in a statement.
Last year, Mariah Carey’s Holiday Bar in New York took place at the Untitled hotel in Lower Manhattan — rather than a traditional bar.
Whether any of Mayfair’s upmarket hotels would be game for doing the same remains to be seen. But we should find out the remaining details before too long.
All of this year’s Mariah Carey’s Holiday Bar venues are set to open on 19th November. In previous years, the deal over at the US sites has been you pay somewhere in the region of $20 for entry. And that includes one cocktail and a 90-minute time slot. Standard stuff.
Mariah Carey plays The O2 Arena on 30th November this year, with her Christmastime show, although we wouldn’t bet on her making an appearance at her Holiday Bar around that time. Stranger things have happened in London, mind.
