Pernod Ricard’s Irish whiskey brand brings its three-day consumer event to the Rivers State capital for the first time, as Nigeria grows for Jameson while global sales slip.
Jameson will hold its Distillery Experience at Yakubu Gowon Stadium in Port Harcourt from 1 to 3 October. It is the first time the format has visited the city. Registration is free, and entry is restricted to people aged 18 and above. Jameson says the event combines whiskey education and tastings with music, games, food and merchandise.
What Is on the Programme
Independence Day opens the event with Plus2.34 x Voltage District, built around skating and music. Game Fiesta and its Playground bond-and-connect games follow on 2 October. The Whetlvnd Waterpark Experience closes on 3 October. No performer line-up has been published, and Jameson says more collaborations will be announced in the weeks before the event.
Despite the name, no distilling takes place at the event. Jameson is made at Midleton in County Cork, and the original Bow Street site in Dublin is now a visitor centre.
Why Nigeria Matters to Jameson
Pernod Ricard’s FY26 results show Jameson down by low single digits globally in the year to June. Excluding the United States, it grew by high single digits. Nigeria was one of three markets, alongside India and China, where Jameson grew by double digits. Jameson has not said what the events cost or how much they add to sales, so the link between the two is an inference.
Rivals are also chasing live audiences, as Guinness moving inside Edo Carnival’s Beer Village shows. The push comes as Nigeria’s brewers battle market contraction.
A Format Tested Elsewhere
Lagos hosted a nine-day edition at Fidelity Grounds, Oniru in 2023. Abuja followed in May 2024 with three days at Doxa Park, built around local partners OfTheBuj, AbujaEats and Guava Island. Lagos has since hosted further editions, including one in 2025 that ran from 26 September to Independence Day. That programme included a skating evening and a water-park day, and the Port Harcourt schedule borrows both ideas.
Port Harcourt is not new territory for the brand. Jameson held a one-night City Takeover there in December 2024.
Evane Chenuet, marketing director at Pernod Ricard Nigeria, said the event pairs whiskey discovery and food with entertainment that reflects the city’s energy.
