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Gotland’s autumn food calendar is moving into its busiest weekend as the Gotland Taste Festival opens on Friday, September 25, for three days of tastings, markets, workshops and local dining experiences. The festival runs through Sunday, September 27, bringing together restaurants, cafés, farm shops, breweries, producers and food artisans across the island.
The event is designed as a broad showcase of Gotland’s food culture rather than a single-site fair. Organisers are presenting the festival as a route through the island’s food landscape, linking agricultural producers and small-scale makers with restaurants and visitors. The programme includes public events in Visby as well as activities hosted by businesses and producers in different parts of Gotland.
From farm shops to Visby’s historic centre
The main public food-and-drink festival is scheduled for Visby’s Stora Torget on Saturday, September 26, from 11:00 to 16:00. The square will provide a central meeting point for producers and visitors, while other parts of the programme use the city’s historic setting and Gotland’s rural food businesses.
Among the featured formats is Dryckesruinen, a drinks-focused gathering in the ruins of St Karin. The setting reflects the festival’s effort to combine local products with Gotland’s distinctive cultural environment. A separate tasting bus will take participants to farm shops, producers and culinary destinations around the island during a half-day excursion.
The programme also includes evening dinners in Klosterlängan, where food and drink producers are presented through shared meals and conversations. These ticketed events sit alongside the festival’s broader public programme, which is largely open to visitors without an entrance fee. Some individual activities, including the dinners, tasting bus and drinks booklet, require separate tickets.
A harvest-season meeting place
Gotland Taste is taking place at the point when late-summer tourism gives way to the island’s autumn harvest season. That timing places seasonal ingredients and local production at the centre of the weekend, while offering businesses a way to extend the visitor season beyond the traditional summer peak.
The festival’s stated aim is to highlight the chain from soil to table: growers, food processors, chefs, drink producers and craftspeople are presented as parts of one regional food system. For visitors, that means the event is not limited to restaurant meals. It also includes opportunities to meet producers, browse farm-shop products, taste local drinks and learn more about how island ingredients are used.
This approach gives the festival a practical role for both residents and visitors. Local producers gain a shared platform, while restaurants and cafés can introduce dishes connected to the island’s ingredients and traditions. Families are also included in the programme through a children’s food festival on Sunday, September 27, at S:t Göran’s ruin in Visby.
New public format for local food makers
One of the new elements for 2026 is Krögarloppet, a relay-style competition involving Gotland’s restaurants. It is scheduled for Friday afternoon, with the start at Östercentrum. The format adds a public and playful element to the opening day while keeping the focus on the island’s hospitality sector.
The festival’s organisers describe the event as a celebration of Gotland’s chefs, food producers, drink makers and processors during the harvest period. In practical terms, the three-day programme creates a single framework for activities that are otherwise spread across the island: public tastings in Visby, rural producer visits, special menus, family activities and hosted dinners.
For travellers, the festival offers a way to experience Gotland through food while moving between urban heritage spaces and the island’s countryside. For residents, it provides a seasonal meeting place and a chance to see the work of local producers gathered under one programme.
What visitors can expect
- Friday, September 25: the opening-day Krögarloppet in Visby and a ticketed dinner in Klosterlängan.
- Saturday, September 26: the main food-and-drink festival at Stora Torget, Dryckesruinen and the tasting bus.
- Sunday, September 27: a family-focused food festival at S:t Göran’s ruin.
- Across the island: participating restaurants, cafés, farm shops and producers offering their own festival experiences.
With its combination of local produce, hospitality and historic settings, Gotland Taste Festival presents regional food culture as a shared public experience. The 2026 edition runs from September 25 to 27, with the programme distributed between Visby and food destinations across Gotland.
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