A magical setting, delicious drinks, an overwhelming amount of sweets and hilariously theatrical hosts. The Hansel and Gretel Immersive Cocktail Experience is a perfectly crafted 90 minutes of pure joy and delight.
On the day that I attended this event, I got myself my first tattoo. Only after this (quite painful) endeavour did I realise that I couldn't drink alcohol for a day/week/years (Google is a very confusing place). Dreading that I would be the awkward sober one at a cocktail event, I attended this with a bit of trepidation. I am so thrilled to say that this experience was completely wonderful and being sober? Not a problem!!
As soon as you sit down, there's so much to look at and take in. The Instagram models to my left had a great time posing with every object they could lean on/touch/hold - it's an influencer goldmine for photo ops. Hansel and Gretel make sure everyone is nice and settled, making very cute small talk with all the guests - and it was during this that myself and my guest were asked if anybody was doing "non-alcohol". I responded that I was going sober for the night, and that was the only time I had to mention it. Every cocktail that we were given/made (there's a treasure hunt to find ingredients to make a cocktail - it's very fun), was delivered to me as a mocktail bearing a near-identical taste to the cocktail iteration. It was perfect.
The night is divided into two 'halves' as you experience a rather hilarious, very self-aware version of the German fairy tale. Without giving away too many spoilers, let's just say that this experience will take you right back to when you visited a candy bar as a child - except this time you don't have a parent telling you to "just pick one".
As somebody who is traditionally not a huge fan of "dinner theatre", I cannot recommend this enough. It's funny, it's delicious, it's fun and it's only 90 minutes long, so you can make dinner plans easily around it (there's loads of great places to eat in the Docklands).
A fantastic fun and quirky night out, The Hansel and Gretel Immersive Cocktail Experience is situated in the Docklands Precinct until April 30. If you want to take the kids, there's a string of 'family friendly' sessions they run that I'm sure children will love.