For four days this September, Place de la Concorde will become a meeting point for cuisines, traditions and flavours from around the world as the Village International de la Gastronomie returns to Paris from 10 to 13 September 2026.
The annual festival brings together countries from across the world, with stands dedicated not only to food and drink, but also to the people, traditions and cultural heritage behind them. Visitors can taste dishes, meet producers and chefs, watch cooking demonstrations and discover ingredients that may be difficult to encounter elsewhere in Paris.
The Village began in 2016, but its story started a year earlier. Founder Anne-Laure Descombin says the idea grew from her travels and her habit of discovering other cultures through their food — visiting local markets, buying ingredients and cooking with the people she met. In 2015, she began contacting embassies, associations and chefs with the idea of bringing different countries together around their cuisines.
The first Village International de la Gastronomie opened in 2016 with 25 participating countries. Since then, the event has grown considerably: 63 countries took part in 2025, and 2026 marks its 10th edition.
For the anniversary edition, Alain Ducasse is the festival's patron, while Italy is the country of honour.
What's Special About the 2026 Edition?
The anniversary edition introduces several additions to the programme. On 12 and 13 September, the Concours Général Agricole will hold its first Marché des Producteurs Médaillés outside the Salon International de l'Agriculture, bringing award-winning French producers and regional specialities to Place de la Concorde.
The four-day programme also includes cooking competitions, live demonstrations, cultural performances, children's workshops and gastronomic events alongside the national food stands.
Italy Takes Centre Stage
As the country of honour for 2026, Italy has a larger role in this year's Village. The choice celebrates the inclusion of Cucina Italiana on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list, as well as the 70th anniversary of the exclusive twinning between Paris and Rome.
The relationship between the two capitals is famously summed up by the phrase: “Only Paris is worthy of Rome; only Rome is worthy of Paris.”
Six Italian regions are represented — Lazio, Liguria, Tuscany, Basilicata, Campania and Piedmont — with the Italian pavilions organised under the Italian Chamber of Commerce for France in Lyon and the Association of Italian Chefs in France.
Regional cooking masterclasses will run throughout the four days, while the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana will hold daily demonstrations. On Saturday, the programme also includes sessions dedicated to gastronomy and craftsmanship and to the cultural heritage of Italian cuisine.
The Full Spectrum of the Festival: Cuisines from More Than 80 Countries
The Village offers a chance to travel the world through food without leaving Place de la Concorde. Visitors can discover traditional dishes, street food, regional specialities, drinks and ingredients from across the globe.
Among the dishes and products already announced are both familiar favourites and some much less expected discoveries.
The United States will be represented by Paris burger specialist PNY, known for its carefully sourced beef, aged cheddar and freshly baked buns. The brand has spent more than a decade developing its expertise and now operates seven locations across Paris.
Greece is represented by Maison Mavrommatis, bringing Mediterranean flavours shaped by the Cypriot roots of the three Mavrommatis brothers, who have been introducing Greek and Mediterranean cuisine to Paris since 1981.
Côte d’Ivoire goes beyond a single national food stand, creating what the programme describes as an African Pavilion. The country highlights its coffee, cocoa and cashew production, alongside a bar serving drinks increasingly used by mixologists and chefs showcasing the diversity of Ivorian cuisine. The programme also extends beyond food with concerts, dance, fashion shows and discussions featuring participants from across Africa.
Indonesia brings classics including rendang and nasi goreng, alongside speciality coffees from Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi.
Afghanistan brings qabili palau, alongside mantu and ashak, two styles of Afghan dumplings, while Laos offers lemongrass sausage and a creation described as the Lao Hotdog.
The China pavilion combines Sichuan flavours and tanghulu with traditional sugar craftsmanship. Visitors can also see sugar painting and sugar blowing, in which heated sugar is shaped into delicate figures.
Saudi Arabia is represented by pastry chef and baker Abdul Latif Alrashoudi, founder of Paris-based LÂM, where French pastry and baking techniques meet Saudi flavours. A former orthopaedic surgeon, he left medicine to pursue a culinary career, studying at Le Cordon Bleu Paris before working in several Paris establishments.
One of the more unusual ingredients comes from Iran. Limou Amani Sia, or black lime from Shiraz, is prepared through a process that includes boiling, salting and drying the fruit in hot desert sand.
Peru is represented by El Picaflor, a Paris restaurant dedicated to Peruvian cuisine since 1994. Chef Lourdes Pluvinage, who trained at Ferrandi Paris, combines traditional Peruvian recipes with French culinary technique. Among her signatures are a trilogy of ceviches and the classic Pisco Sour.
Mexico brings tacos de canasta, or basket tacos — filled tacos traditionally layered inside a lined basket to keep them warm and soft.
There are some unusual flavours on the sweeter side, too. A Martinique exhibitor offers artisan ice creams in more than 40 flavours, including yam, giraumon squash and bois d'Inde, while another specialises in liqueurs made with ingredients such as breadfruit and star apple.
Visitors can also find Uzbek plov prepared in a traditional kazan, while the Sri Lankan selection includes appa, roti and kottu, Ceylon tea and even mango and avocado ice creams.
These are only a few examples. Across the four-day event, visitors will also encounter food and culinary traditions from Argentina, Armenia, Ethiopia, Japan, South Korea, Palestine, Tahiti, Thailand, Vietnam and many more.
Live Cooking, Competitions and Special Events
The Village programme extends well beyond its food stands, with cooking demonstrations, competitions and special events taking place throughout the four days.
One of the main events is the Private Chef World Cup, returning for its second edition. Created to spotlight the work of private chefs, the competition brings together professionals from around the world. Its first edition attracted 123 applications, with 12 chefs from five continents selected to compete and Cambodian chef Sopheak Sao taking the title. In 2026, qualifying rounds take place on 11 and 12 September, followed by a Grand Final with five finalists on Sunday 13 September.
Mexico also has a special place in this year's programme, marking 200 years of diplomatic relations between France and Mexico. Alongside food and cultural performances, the programme includes a monumental Catrina boulangère from Atlixco, bringing a striking element of Mexican culture to Place de la Concorde.
Food culture also extends to the written word. The Gourmand Awards, founded in 1995, bring together a global community of authors, publishers, chefs and food professionals. For the Village's tenth anniversary, a special selection of authors and publishers from five continents will meet in the Grande Tente on Friday 11 September, presenting books dedicated to recipes, culinary heritage and contemporary food culture.
Beyond the main culinary events, the programme includes music and dance performances from participating countries, as well as hands-on children's cooking workshops led by chef Olivier Chaput.
Village International de la Gastronomie 2026: Practical Information
Dates: 10–13 September 2026
Where: Place de la Concorde, Paris, France
Opening hours: 10:00–22:00
Tickets: €7 general admission; €5 for students and CMI cardholders; free for children under 12. Students can also access special prices from participating exhibitors on presentation of a valid student card.
Getting there: Concorde station is served by Métro lines 1, 8 and 12. The festival can also be reached by bus, RER C via Invalides and Batobus at Place de la Concorde.
For the latest programme, tickets and visitor information, see the official Village International de la Gastronomie website.
