The growing interest in cocktails and spirits over the last quarter century has led to an explosion of conventions and festivals around the world where drinks are served and discussed at length. However, Africa was largely missing from this global party.

This situation will change next year with the arrival of Strange, in South Africa. The event is considered the continent’s first international spirits and cocktail festival, held every two years. It will take place in Johannesburg from March 10th to 13th and then in Cape Town from March 13th to 18th. Another week-long event will follow in both cities in the fall of 2024. (Ajabu means “something wonderful” in Swahili.)

The event is the brainchild of Mark Talbot Holmes, founder of U’Luvka Vodka, and Colin Asare-Appiah, a Ghana native who quickly rose through the London mixology ranks to senior portfolio in the 1990s and early 2000s Bacardi ambassador. Mr Asare-Appiah was once a bartender at LAB, a London bar that was one of the most influential of the early craft cocktail bars and had a location in Cape Town.

“I’ve always focused on Africa,” he said. “I wanted the groups of people I have worked with over the years to come together and celebrate the uniqueness of Africa.”

The idea for the festival came to Mr. Asare-Appiah while he was sheltering in place in Brooklyn during the pandemic — a time that gave him time to reflect on his African roots. “As I sat still during the pandemic, I became more connected to the continent,” he said. “I realized there were so many things happening on the continent, but it was fragmented.”

Ajabu will attempt to bring these fragments together by flying in bartenders from bars in several African countries – including hero in Nairobi, Kenya, and Front back in Accra, Ghana – to exchange ideas and show them to the world.

“South Africa is definitely a leader in the African beverage industry,” he said Leah van Deventer, a drinks writer, educator and consultant in Cape Town. “But new hotspots are emerging in Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria and, to a lesser extent, Senegal, Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo.”

Mr Asare-Appiah and Ms Van Deventer – who will work as on-site problem solvers at Ajabu – moderated a panel discussion entitled “Africa is Now!” at the Tales of the cocktail Convention in New Orleans in July.

The Ajabu Festival will also include visits to prominent bars outside Africa including My ladies in New York City, Rayo cocktail bar in Mexico City and Trailer happiness in London. Instead of the usual pop-ups that traveling bars often host at conventions, the guest bars will team up with local African bars for what Mr. Asare-Appiah calls “mash-ups.”

He plans to bring together many of the bartending graduates from LAB, which started as a school, the London Academy of Bartending. There will also be a tribute Douglas Ankrahone of LAB’s bartending stars and inventor of the internationally popular drink called Pornstar Martini (a combination of vanilla-flavored vodka, passion fruit liqueur and puree, and sometimes lime juice with a sparkling garnish). Mr. Ankrah, a native of Ghana who died in 2021, came up with the idea for the cocktail while working in Cape Town.

In the world of craft cocktails, “Africa is in many ways the final frontier,” Ms. Van Deventer said. “Not only is it geographically off the beaten track, it is also completely different culturally. I suspect people were unsure how to get involved, which is why a festival like Ajabu is so exciting.”

Follow New York Times Cooking on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, Tick ​​tock And Pinterest. Get regular updates from New York Times Cooking with recipe suggestions, cooking tips and shopping tips.