Gastronomic Forum Barcelona will address culinary tradition as a creative driver
- The show proposes to revisit the gastronomic legacy with a programme that connects identity, innovation and new restaurant models
- Emerging talent and the new generation of chefs also take centre stage in the next edition of the event
Gastronomic Forum Barcelona will be held from 2 to 4 November 2026, for the first time at Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via Venue, with a programme that proposes to revisit the culinary legacy as a benchmark in contemporary cuisine. The leading trade fair for hospitality, gastronomy and foodservice, will highlight the role of a new generation of professionals, with special attention to young talent that is redefining new restaurant models.
The central story of the next edition, “Revisiting tradition”, will take place in territorial blocks where chefs from Catalonia, Andalusia, Galicia, Madrid, Italy and Malta will share their vision of the gastronomic legacy from their own local perspective. In this context, leading figures such as Oriol Castro, Mateu Casañas and Eduard Xatruch (Disfrutar***), Quique Dacosta (Quique Dacosta***) and Paco Pérez (Miramar** and Enoteca**) will participate in sessions that will combine reflection and tasting, thus exploring the link between culinary memory and current creativity.
Gastronomic Forum Barcelona will also propose specific sessions around the room, the space where the customer is served and where the service, experience and direct relations-hip with diners take place. To vindicate the strategic function of this space, which has gained prominence as a differential element in restoration, renowned maîtres such as Joan Carles Ibáñez (Lasarte***), Marianna Suárez d’Alessandro (Celler de Can Roca***), Pere Monje (Via Veneto) and Abel Valverde (Since 1911*) will participate.
Another of the great novelties of the next edition of the show will be the recreation of a gas-tronomic bar, one of the emerging formats of today’s catering, where chefs Albert Raurich (Dos Palillos*), Martín Comamala (539 Plats Forts), Joao Kather and Miguel de Aguilar (Tetsu) will cook and serve the public live, bringing the experience of their own restaurants, where the bar plays a central role, to the event.
For Pep Palau, content director of Gastronomic Forum Barcelona, “the set of activities pro-posed for this next edition, including reflection on tradition in cuisine, allow gastronomy to be projected into the future from identity, memory and territory, weaving a thread of argument that addresses both the evolution of formats and the generational change that the sector is experiencing”.
Trends and generational change
Charcuterie and the meat sector will also be part of the show’s programme, through an initia-tive developed together with the Gremi de Xarcuters i de la Carn de Catalunya, which will in-clude two thematic sessions on new trends in sausages. In addition, Elisabeth G. Iborra, Spain’s leading meat sommelier and expert in animal protein, will offer a guided tasting of beef.
There will also be space for experimentation and debate in the Forum Lab area, which will have its own programme combining training, trends and new formats. Among its outstanding contents is Talent Z, which will give prominence to young professionals from generation Z – cooking, dining room, sommelier and gastronomic trades – who are already leading the ge-nerational change in the sector.
Recognitions and awards
The programme of activities at Gastronomic Forum Barcelona will be completed with the pre-sentation of various professional awards. Among them, the Cuiner 2026 Gastronomic Forum Barcelona Award, organised with La Vanguardia, which recognises the work of emerging chefs who stand out for the quality of their proposals, the use of local products and their commitment to sustainable cuisine. Likewise, the Innoforum Awards will once again honour gastronomic innovation; while the Josep Mercader Awards will highlight relevant trajectories and contributions in different areas related to gastronomy.
Within the framework of the show, The Baker award for the best bread, promoted by the Gremi de Flequers, and the award for the Best Panettone in Spain, organized by the Gremi de Pastissers, will also be presented. The event will also host the presentation of leading gastronomic publications such as the Slow Food Guide 2027 and the Augusta Guide.
Gastronomic Forum Barcelona expects to bring together more than 450 exhibitors from the hospitality, gastronomy and foodservice sectors at Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via venue, 12% more than in the last edition, held in November 2025. At that time, the show was attended by 21,800 professional visitors, the participation of more than 180 experts and programmed 190 gastronomic sessions that analysed the phenomenon of New Catalan Cuisine and how this movement is being decisive in the present and future of Catalan cuisine.
Barcelona, July 7th 2026