Melbourne, Maybe? Raises $14k For Melbourne Bars

Each Sunday for six weeks, Adelaide bar Maybe Mae transformed itself into Melbourne, Maybe?, a pop-up with a cause. Its task was to sell drinks from Melbourne's closed bars in a bid to raise money for the locked-down venues. Here, owner Ollie Margan reflects on the passion project he brought to life.

What a wholesome few weeks of Sunday service! A huge thanks to the Adelaide public, such a respectful and overwhelming level support of the Melbourne bar community. You queued out the door for six weeks in a row before open, drank the menu, and vacated your seat for the next person. THANK YOU. The logistics around an event at reduced capacity with so much interest was challenging, but we appreciate you working with us.

This event series was centered around raising revenue, brand awareness and creating employment opportunities for our Melbourne sisters and brothers who were/are hurting. A total of $14k was shipped back to a handful of independent venues, and it felt good. A shout out to other venues such as Hot Tamale (Darwin) and Alba Bar and Deli (Brisbane) for actioning similar initiatives. An acknowledgment must also be made to each venue that we worked with; absently entrusting us to deliver your brand, though Joey (Romeo Lane) did send his parents along to quality control. The faith you placed in the team was humbling to execute was humbling.

It was great too, on a personal level, gaining insight into some of the world’s best cocktail minds. To see the way in which these creatives have modified their offering to be suitably served out of a vac-seal bag, a week after mixing was impressive. Particularly so, given the caliber of the final product.

Looking forward, this is a model that we would absolutely implement again. The formatting was simple and effective, the drinks were brilliant, and the transaction was as direct as could have hoped for.