The Best Events For Locals at Tales of the Cocktail

Tales of the Cocktail, the world's largest cocktail convention, starts in New Orleans tomorrow with a slew of seminars, tastings and parties from July 19-24, aimed at over 15,000 booze industry bigwigs and aficianados.

And while Tales is primarily geared toward industry, there are some way locals can get in on the action (including FREE ways), according to local writers.

Ian McNulty's top picks include the Dynamic Duos— which pairs bartending pros from around the world with New Orleans finest bartenders  during three-hour bar shifts that are open to the public— a food truck crawl at the French Market and more. [Advocate]

Ann Maloney reports that the ticketed Spirited Dinners, Tales Restaurant Week (starts on Monday) and the Tales Market, which sells everything from barware to bitters, are three great ways for locals to experience the event as well.