Mark your calendars, foodies — from September 24 to 27, 2026, Turin is throwing the biggest, most delicious party of the year: Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2026. This isn’t just another food fair with sample-sized nibbles and long queues (though, okay, there will be some queues). This is the 16th edition of the world’s leading gathering for food communities, and this year it’s extra special: Slow Food Italia is turning 40, and the whole city is rolling out the red (tomato) carpet for it.
If you’ve never been, picture this: entire piazzas in the historic center transformed into an open-air, edible United Nations. If you have been before, get ready — after two editions out at Parco Dora, the event is finally coming back home to the heart of the city, where it belongs.
Where the Magic Happens
Forget trekking to the outskirts. This year, the action unfolds right in Turin’s most iconic squares:
- Piazza San Carlo
- Piazza Castello
- Piazza Carlo Alberto
- Via Roma
- Piazza Vittorio
- Piazza CLN
Basically, you could stumble out of your hotel, follow your nose, and end up face-to-face with a Piedmontese cheesemaker or a Peruvian cacao farmer within about ten minutes. That’s the beauty of having a food festival woven directly into a city built for walking (and, not coincidentally, for getting delightfully lost — more on that in a second).
What’s on the Menu — Literally
The theme for 2026 is “Biodiversity – Be Diversity,” and it’s not just a nice slogan. It’s the beating heart of the whole event, celebrating the natural, agricultural, gastronomic, cultural and social richness that makes food worth protecting. Expect:
- The Slow Food Market — hundreds of producers from Italy and around the globe, all committed to food that’s good, clean and fair.
- Tastes Workshops (Laboratori del Gusto) — sit-down tastings where you’ll learn to tell a great Parmigiano from a merely good one.
- Slow Food Presidia and the Ark of Taste — the projects safeguarding endangered traditional foods, from rare grains to forgotten fruit varieties.
- The Terra Madre Enoteca, plus dedicated Coalitions on wine, coffee, cacao and cider — yes, an entire corner of the world is talking cider, and yes, you should go listen.
- Cooking demos with the Slow Food Cooks’ Alliance, educational activities for kids, and even spaces dedicated to bees and pollinators, because no biodiversity conversation is complete without the little guys doing all the work.
Organizers expect more than 1,500 producers, cooks, farmers, fishers, and young activists from all over the planet. So yes, bring stretchy pants.
Why This Edition Feels Different
Turning 40 is a milestone for anyone, and Slow Food Italia is celebrating in style, tying the 2026 edition to the legacy of founder Carlo Petrini and the movement he built from a small corner of Piedmont into a global force for food justice. There’s a genuine sense of homecoming this year — both for the event, back in the city center, and for the philosophy behind it.
Turn It Into a Proper Turin Trip
Here’s the thing: Salone del Gusto is the perfect excuse to finally give Turin the attention it deserves. Between tasting sessions, you’re standing in one of Italy’s most underrated cities — elegant arcades, grand cafés, a skyline stitched together by the Mole Antonelliana, and food traditions (hello, chocolate and vermouth) that predate the festival by centuries.
If you want to make the most of the days between bites, I’ve got you covered — my Turin guide just came out, packed with the routes, hidden corners and local know-how I’ve built up over the years, and it’s now available as an audio guide too, so you can wander the piazzas with the stories playing right in your ears while your hands are, understandably, full of food. Grab it before you land — trust me, you’ll want the audio version cued up before the crowds hit Piazza San Carlo.
The Practical Bits
- Dates: September 24–27, 2026
- Location: Turin city center (Piazza San Carlo, Piazza Castello, Piazza Carlo Alberto, Via Roma, Piazza Vittorio, Piazza CLN)
- Organizers: Slow Food, Città di Torino, Regione Piemonte
- Good to know: the event is spread across open squares in the center, so it’s free to wander through — just budget extra for anything you’ll want to actually taste (and you will want to taste everything)
See you in Turin — fork, or rather, forchetta, in hand!
