V&A fever is spreading throughout Dundee as businesses gear up to welcome thousands of extra visitors over the museum’s opening weekend.
Bars across the city are promising to shake things up when the £80.1 million attraction opens its doors in mid-September, with a variety of cocktails themed around the museum.
The Apex, Malmaison, and Bird & Bear are just some of the nightspots which have been working on specialist drinks.
Many of the city’s biggest hotels say they are close to capacity while Scotrail and Stagecoach have promised to put on extra trains and buses.
The museum will officially open on Saturday September 15 with a free two-day 3D festival to mark the occasion — headlined by legendary Scottish rockers Primal Scream.
With the help of the rest of the hotel staff, David Montgomery, a barman at the Apex, has created two cocktails in celebration called The Victoria, and The Albert.
Both cocktails feature local Verdant gin, Aperol and Mackays Marmalade gin alongside grapefruit liqueur.
Apex waiter Connor Berg said the drinks contain a flavour of history.
He said: “The Victoria has citric acid, Triple Sec and Gomme added.
“It begins on a sweet note, with a more sour finish, mirroring the reign of Her Late Majesty Queen Victoria, which soured towards the end following the death of the late Prince Consort.
“The Albert cocktail has a more bitter note to it, taking inspiration from the Prince Consort’s reported feelings during the first years of his marriage to the late Queen – when he was said to be bitter about his lack of freedom and position in the country which his wife ruled.”
Ronnie MacKay, general manager at Apex City Quay Hotel & Spa, said excitement was mounting by the day.
He said: “The much-anticipated opening of the V&A is creating such a buzz in the city and beyond.
“We are in a prime spot right on the Quay, so our guests will be right in the heart of all the action when the V&A opens its doors.
“Bookings are looking extremely healthy during opening week and throughout the following weekends into October. We anticipate this will continue through the autumn and winter months.
“We’re also working with the V&A team on some other very special plans (for the opening weekend) which we’ll reveal soon – so watch this space.”
The Malmaison, just a stone’s throw away from the museum, will offer a Speed & Style cocktail — a nod to the V&A’s first exhibition celebrating the world’s greatest-ever vessels.
A spokesperson for the business said: “The hotel is almost fully booked the week of the opening. We are hoping that the trend will continue, and that V&A will bring a lot of tourists to Dundee.”
Meanwhile, transport companies are also making plans for the opening weekend.
Around 20,000 people are expected to attend the two days of the 3D FEstival, which will be headlined on the Friday night by Primal Scream.
A ScotRail spokesman said: “It’s going to be a hugely exciting weekend for Dundee, and we’re delighted to be adding extra carriages to get everyone to and from the City of Discovery.”
A Stagecoach spokeswoman said the firm was “currently working on options” to put on more buses to the city.
She said: “We intend to duplicate journeys around the opening to ensure we can cater for the additional customers expected to visit the V&A.
“We are also working on publishing a ‘guide to getting to the V&A’, highlighting all our available bus services, where they stop and frequenices.”
A Dundee City Council spokeswoman said information regarding road closures will be released “in due course”.
