In short
TableJourney keeps the next dates of 1,389 food festivals in 55 countries and 222 cities, rebuilt every day from the same dates as our festival calendar. Everything on this page is free to use, including commercially, under CC BY 4.0: credit TableJourney and link to https://tablejourney.com/festivals/statistics/. Figures as of 6 October 2026.
Key figures
- October is the busiest month. 199 festivals (14%) start in October; December is the quietest, with 38.
- Fall is festival season. 40% of festivals take place in fall, counting the seasons of each festival's own hemisphere.
- Food festivals are a weekend thing. 68% start on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, and Saturday alone accounts for 28%.
- Most are short. 52% last three days or less, and about one in five is a single day.
- Most need no ticket. Of the 1,286 festivals whose entry terms we have checked, 62% are free to enter; you pay for what you eat and drink.
- Wine comes first. 229 festivals centre on it, ahead of street food (200) and beer (182).
- The busiest weekend ahead is 5 December 2026. 104 festivals are running that Saturday or Sunday, 85 of them Christmas markets.
- Plan with care. Organisers have not yet published the dates of 38% of the coming editions; for those, our dates follow the festival's usual pattern and are marked as expected.
The full study, with the method: food festival statistics.
Charts
Food festivals by month
When the next edition of each festival starts.
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<iframe src="https://tablejourney.com/embed/charts/month/" title="Food festivals by month" width="100%" height="470" style="border:1px solid #e4d9ca;border-radius:12px;max-width:720px" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="font-size:13px;margin:6px 0 0"><a href="https://tablejourney.com/festivals/statistics/">Food festivals by month</a> by TableJourney</p>Or as an image:
<a href="https://tablejourney.com/festivals/statistics/"><img src="https://tablejourney.com/festivals/statistics/food-festivals-by-month.png" alt="Food festivals by month, from TableJourney" width="1200" height="675"></a>Which day food festivals start
Opening day of the week.
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<iframe src="https://tablejourney.com/embed/charts/day/" title="Which day food festivals start" width="100%" height="470" style="border:1px solid #e4d9ca;border-radius:12px;max-width:720px" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="font-size:13px;margin:6px 0 0"><a href="https://tablejourney.com/festivals/statistics/">Which day food festivals start</a> by TableJourney</p>Or as an image:
<a href="https://tablejourney.com/festivals/statistics/"><img src="https://tablejourney.com/festivals/statistics/food-festivals-by-day.png" alt="Which day food festivals start, from TableJourney" width="1200" height="675"></a>How long food festivals last
Length of each festival, in days.
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<iframe src="https://tablejourney.com/embed/charts/length/" title="How long food festivals last" width="100%" height="470" style="border:1px solid #e4d9ca;border-radius:12px;max-width:720px" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="font-size:13px;margin:6px 0 0"><a href="https://tablejourney.com/festivals/statistics/">How long food festivals last</a> by TableJourney</p>Or as an image:
<a href="https://tablejourney.com/festivals/statistics/"><img src="https://tablejourney.com/festivals/statistics/food-festivals-by-length.png" alt="How long food festivals last, from TableJourney" width="1200" height="675"></a>What food festivals celebrate
Festivals by kind; one can count in two.
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<iframe src="https://tablejourney.com/embed/charts/theme/" title="What food festivals celebrate" width="100%" height="470" style="border:1px solid #e4d9ca;border-radius:12px;max-width:720px" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="font-size:13px;margin:6px 0 0"><a href="https://tablejourney.com/festivals/statistics/">What food festivals celebrate</a> by TableJourney</p>Or as an image:
<a href="https://tablejourney.com/festivals/statistics/"><img src="https://tablejourney.com/festivals/statistics/food-festivals-by-theme.png" alt="What food festivals celebrate, from TableJourney" width="1200" height="675"></a>Where the food festivals are
The ten countries with the most.
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<iframe src="https://tablejourney.com/embed/charts/country/" title="Where the food festivals are" width="100%" height="470" style="border:1px solid #e4d9ca;border-radius:12px;max-width:720px" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="font-size:13px;margin:6px 0 0"><a href="https://tablejourney.com/festivals/statistics/">Where the food festivals are</a> by TableJourney</p>Or as an image:
<a href="https://tablejourney.com/festivals/statistics/"><img src="https://tablejourney.com/festivals/statistics/food-festivals-by-country.png" alt="Where the food festivals are, from TableJourney" width="1200" height="675"></a>The data
- The aggregate tables behind the charts: food-festival-statistics.csv
- Every festival, row by row (CSV and JSON): open dataset on GitHub
- Query it with SQL: DoltHub
- A citable record: Zenodo, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.23142697
- Live lists for your site: festival widgets and calendar feeds
Cite as: TableJourney (2026). Food festival statistics. https://tablejourney.com/festivals/statistics/
Cite the dataset: TableJourney. TableJourney food festival calendar [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23142697
Story ideas, month by month
Built from the calendar each day: what is coming up and when, to plan seasonal stories.
- October 2026. 167 food festivals start. The busiest weekend is 31 October 2026, with 65 running. Wine festivals lead the month (29). Festivals to build a story around: Fiera Internazionale del Tartufo Bianco d'Alba (Turin), Tucson Meet Yourself (Tucson), Dia de Muertos (Oaxaca).
- November 2026. 170 food festivals start. The busiest weekend is 28 November 2026, with 102 running. Christmas markets lead the month (81). Festivals to build a story around: St. Martin's Day (Imieniny Ulicy Świętego Marcina) (Poznań), Christmas at Liseberg (Gothenburg), Old Town Square Christmas Market (Prague).
- December 2026. 38 food festivals start. The busiest weekend is 5 December 2026, with 104 running. Christmas markets lead the month (9). Festivals to build a story around: Noche de Rabanos (Oaxaca), Festas de Natal e Fim do Ano (Funchal), Tallinn Christmas Market (Tallinn).
- January 2027. 54 food festivals start. The busiest weekend is 2 January 2027, with 39 running. Restaurant weeks lead the month (19). Festivals to build a story around: Carnevale di Venezia (Venice), Sant Sebastià (Palma), Chinatown Chinese New Year Festive Fair (Singapore).
- February 2027. 83 food festivals start. The busiest weekend is 6 February 2027, with 40 running. Lunar New Year festivals lead the month (11). Festivals to build a story around: Tết Nguyên Đán Lunar New Year (Hanoi), Ramadan Iftar (Marrakech), World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest (Houston).
- March 2027. 67 food festivals start. The busiest weekend is 6 March 2027, with 36 running. Wine festivals lead the month (13). Festivals to build a story around: Las Fallas (Valencia), Charleston Wine + Food (Charleston), Oakland Restaurant Week (Oakland).
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Press contact
Questions, a figure cut another way, or a table for one country or city: [email protected].