Where is the Best Food & Wine Festival in 2026? Oaxaca

ByDonna

Are you looking for things to do in Oaxaca? How about a new food and wine festival?

As a life-long foodie with a long career in the culinary world and now living in Oaxaca, I decided to create the Oaxaca Food & Wine Festival. My business partner, Mark Certonio, has been producing the award-winning Key West Food & Wine Festival for the past 15 years so this isn’t our first rodeo.

The event takes place February 25-March 1, 2026 to showcase the fantastic Oaxacan cuisine, the ancestral mezcals from this region, Mexican wines, and the rich cultural heritage of the indigenous people living in the neighboring villages. A feast for all your senses!

The Oaxaca Food & Wine Festival includes 8 events over 5 days taking place in various venues across the city. This is not a mass market event like some food and wine festivals with hundreds of people; that’s not the vibe. Only 50 lucky guests will attend for an intimate and authentic experience.

What to Expect

The food and wine festival offers a full agenda of events, but we’ve left enough time in so you can also explore Oaxaca on your own. The street food is amazing and shopping for textiles is a joy. Visiting the mercados is a great way to see Oaxacan life up close. If you’re making the trip, plan to arrive a few days early or stay late.

There are 2 options for purchasing tickets so there’s lots of flexibility.

  1. VIP Experience includes all 8 events
  2. Tickets are available for each individual event

Mole & Mezcal & Wine

Oaxacan cuisine is unique compared to other parts of Mexico because of its rich pre-Hispanic heritage. It is based on ingredients native to this area with mole being one of the foundational Oaxacan dishes. It is a complex set of ingredients in at least 7 different varieties. Our Mole y Mezcal y Calenda event will offer many different moles, mezcalitas, and a street parade (calenda) leading to the event at Casa Convite.

Other events include a 3-course lunch at Ancestral Tradicional with Cava Maciel wines from Baja California, Mexico and a Rooftop Paella Lunch at El Olivo Gastrobar.

A multi-course wine pairing dinner will be held at the luxury Hotel Flavia, at their stellar restaurant, Cruz. A stunning view overlooking Oaxaca with food and wines from Dos Buhos organic winery will make for an enchanting evening. The food and wine festival will wind down on Sunday morning with a family-style brunch at Restaurante Origen.

Fall in Love with Oaxaca

I know you will fall in love with Oaxaca just as I have. After a 15,000 mile motorcycle ride through Mexico, Oaxaca kept kept calling me back. Read some of my stories about why Oaxaca made the short list. There are so many interesting things to do in Oaxaca and I hope you can join me at the Oaxaca Food & Wine Festival, February 25-March 1, 2026. My friend at Almost Retired in Mexico YouTube channel created a great video that gives a taste of what’s to come.

Feel free to email me at [email protected] with any questions you may have. Happy to connect with you!