The seventh annual Cocktail World Cup - dubbed the "Carnival of the Cocktail" - will be hitting Queenstown next month.
Event spokeswoman Belinda Henley said the competition would make competitors delve into the "magical, mystical world of the carnival".
Teams from the United Kingdom, United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand are expected in Queenstown for the March 14-19 event.
42Below marketing director Dion Nash said the event was the company's signature event and its way of celebrating the "superstars" of the trade.
"We are working hard to make sure ... it will be more extreme and more outrageous than ever before," Mr Nash said.
This year's judging panel is drinks writer and historian David Wondrich, the UK's "maestro" of cocktails Salvatore Calabrese and 42Below's Jacob Briars.
