Alex Kitain, founder of Amsterdam-based coffee group, The Coffeevine and Freshdrip, has announced the launch of the first ever Virtual Coffee Festival.
On Sunday 29 March, between 1pm and 5:30pm CET, coffee lovers and industry professionals from around the world are invited to watch the broadcast of the world's first online coffee festival, free of charge or for a small donation of which the proceeds will be paid out to Doctors Without Borders.
The Virtual Coffee Festival will be livestreamed on video conferencing platforms, Facebook and YouTube.
Virtual Coffee Festival goers are offered the chance to enjoy a pertinent program of talks and workshops by five international industry opinion leaders (listed below).
All themes and topics were carefully curated by Alex Kitain:
Ronny Billemon (BE) – Author of Equilibrium in Water and Coffee
Joe McTaggart (GB) – Comandante Grinders (pictured)
Talor Browne (AU) – Founder of Talormade Coffee & Donuts
Matt Winton (AU/SE) – Swedish Barista Champion & Swiss Brewers Cup Champion Wendelien van Bunnik (NL) – Dutch Barista Champion & World Aeropress Champion
Each speaker will lead a 20 - 25 minute online session, followed by a 20-25 minute Q&A. Participants are invited to share their thoughts, inspirations and experiences by using the hashtag #virtualcoffeefestival.
Designed to create a new virtual meeting place for coffee professionals and coffee aficionados, the Virtual Coffee Festival’s main focus is to share knowledge, increase education and enable simultaneous learning. Participants gain direct access to some of the industry’s most inspirational players and are given the unique opportunity to participate in real time from the comfort of their own homes.
Virtual Coffee Festival comes as a relief to housebound coffee communities around the world, for whom coffee festivals are an annual highlight that offer a chance to build relationships, gain new knowledge and share unique coffee moments.
“My aim is to send positive vibes to an industry currently in crisis, and a message of encouragement saying ‘Yes, we can get through this together,” added Kitain. “I would love the Virtual Coffee Festival to become a new recurring event - a great addition to the annual coffee festival calendar.”
To sign up go to: https://www.virtualcoffeefestival.com/signup
