Ubud Food Festival

Held each year in Ubud, Bali's cultural and spiritual heart, the Ubud Food Festival has run since 2015 and grown into one of Southeast Asia's premier culinary events. Spread across multiple venues, including the scenic Taman Kuliner on Raya Sanggingan Road, the festival draws chefs, food enthusiasts, farmers and industry professionals for three days of demonstrations, tastings and discussion centred on Indonesia's genuinely vast culinary diversity.

A free-entry food market forms the festival's beating heart, with more than 70 stalls dishing out Indonesia's most beloved street food — from fiery sambals to fragrant satay — while ticketed masterclasses cover everything from rendang cooking techniques to fermentation methods and plant-based dining trends. Beyond the classics of nasi goreng and beef rendang that tend to dominate Indonesian food's international reputation, the festival makes a genuine point of showcasing regional specialities and the stories behind them, giving visitors a far more complete picture of the archipelago's cooking than its most famous exports alone provide.

For visitors specifically interested in contemporary Indonesian gastronomy, rather than the country's more casual street food scene, Ubud offers a genuinely serious platform — exclusive chef collaborations, themed dinners and wine pairings sitting comfortably alongside the free public food market, all set against Ubud's lush, culturally rich backdrop.