This evening, at the kick-off event of the 2011 Manhattan Cocktail Classic, 120 spirits exhibitors will hold court in the hallowed marbled halls of the New York Public Library. Part festival, part fete, part conference, part cocktail party—the Classic has become a celebration of the intersection between cocktails and culture.

But tonight's twist isn't that 3,000 of this glamorous city’s cocktail aficionados, trendsetters, mixologists, distributors, and retailers are paying $150 per ticket to storm an iconic and revered book haven for drinks, food, and music. The surprise here is on the brand level. Instead of paying by the size of their business, each represented brand has paid the same amount of money for identical square footage. No exceptions allowed.

“At many festivals, the larger and cash-rich brands are typically counted on to underwrite the bulk of the event,” says the egalitarian-minded Lesley Townsend, 32, who created it all. “But if our gala is going to be the event that defines our festival, then we really owe it to all our sponsors to showcase them all equally and make the size of exhibitor space equal.”

The Classic started as a wisp of an idea at the end of 2007, when Townsend sent an email to a dozen of her mixologist friends wondering why New York City, of all places, didn’t have a cocktail festival. More people jammed into the discussion, and the consensus was she should quit her job and set out to put one together.

Gainfully employed to launch the Astor Center at the time, a space owned by a prominent wine and spirits retailer in Manhattan, she wasn't ready. But by early 2009, after the center was up and running, it was time. That fall, she launched a two-day preview event, which attracted about 50 spirits sponsors, who paid between $1,000 to $10,000 to take part in two dozen seminars, bar-related events, and a closing-night gala. One year later, a full-blown Classic had attracted nearly 100 sponsors, offered 75 events, and made the library gala the opening-night attraction.

And while the sliding-scale fees still allowed some of the little guys to participate, Townsend was aware that the larger companies clearly had the upper hand. “In some cases, the bigger brands, who had the power to buy more space and do amazing things with it—Diageo, the global spirits supplier, for example, converted the lower level ballroom into a replica of the city’s iconic Stork Club—wound up overshadowing the smaller brands.”

That’s why Townsend, who admits to having “socialist tendencies,” decided to go radical this year.

In addition to being limited to serving just one cocktail each, a switch from last year's multicocktail booths, every brand is paying the same exhibitors’ fee to participate. Townsend refused to disclose the exact amount of that fee, saying only that it was “a few thousand dollars” per vendor.

“If the fees were higher, the smaller brands would probably not have been able to be here at all, and they’re obviously ecstatic to have the opportunity to engage with their much larger competitors on a level playing field,” she says. “The larger brands realize the gala is not an event they’re going to be able to own completely. For more creative control, they can put their marketing dollars into other parts of the Classic, such as event sponsorships, where it can be all about them and their brand messages.”

Jonathan Pogash, owner of The Cocktail Guru, a beverage consultancy in New York City, works a lot with small spirits producers and sees the advantage of egalitarian exhibitor pricing for the little guy who typically would not be able to afford participation costs at similar events. “An artisanal brand from a small farm or distillery doesn’t necessarily want to become a giant,” says Pogash. “Mostly all they want is better distribution, especially in the U.S. market.”

To engage in this sort of dealmaking, visibility counts. “People in the trade attend the gala, so small brands are right in front of retailers, distributors, bartenders, and mixologists,” says Gregg Glaser, a publisher and editor of Modern Distillery Age, and a 16-year veteran of covering the spirits and beer industry. “Because exhibitors showcase their product in cocktails for attendees to sample, even a small producer can make a big impact on people who make buying decisions. These brands understand that the New York area is a huge market, and that every avenue of exposure helps sales.”

For Townsend, her “crazy renegade” business sense of building an event over time may shock some entrepreneurs who just want to take the money and run. “Mine is not a strategy for maximizing short-term profits,” she says. “I’m building something that will be able to sustain growth and interest from attendees and sponsors over years. We don’t want to be just a blip on the radar.”