Throughout the year, Scotland plays host to a range of food and drink festivals. From whisky in the spring to foodie feasts in the summer, and celebration of our famous seafood in the autumn.
Here we take a look at the best food and drink festivals that happen every year in Scotland.
Aberdeen Restaurant Week started in 2018 with an aim to get people out and eating in the city thanks to special meal deals and menus.
In 2024 there were more restaurants taking part than ever before, with attendees able travel the world with their taste buds. For something a little closer to home, some venues tend to host Burns suppers as the restaurant week takes place in late January.
The National Whisky Festival, which brings together a host of distillers under one roof, kicks off the year in Glasgow.
Across two extensive three-and-a-half hour sessions, The National Whisky Festival of Scotland - Glasgow edition - showcases dozens of exhibitors from many of the most exciting and innovative names from across the industry spectrum, each bringing with them an diverse range of incredible whiskies and guest spirits - all of which are available to try and included in the ticket price.
This festival of cocktails usually takes place in Scotland's biggest city in April and sees over 40 bars and venues offering discounted drinks and secret menus as well as hosting masterclasses and events.
In 2024 Glasgow Cocktail Week, in partnership with Experience Glasgow Food & Drink, launched the first-ever Glasgow Cocktail Trail, featuring a digital map and website. This trail highlighted 26 of the city’s top bars and bartenders.
A five-day celebration comprising of more than 500 different events, The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival is probably the biggest date on the Scottish whisky events calendar. A truly global celebration, whisky fans from all over the world descend on Speyside over the first May bank holiday weekend.
The events of offer range from exclusive behind-the-scenes distillery tours, tastings of rare and vintage whiskies and the chance to meet the people behind the production of some of the world’s leading brands.
Many distilleries which are not usually open to the public welcome visitors and open their doors during the Festival.
This celebration of Scotland's smallest whisky region takes place in mid-May, after Spirit of Speyside and, handily, just before Feis Ile.
A pinnacle moment in the whisky lovers annual calendar, the festival provides an opportunity for visitors to enjoy the affectionately named ‘Wee Toon’ and learn more about the Campbeltown drams while soaking up the history.
It’s also one to watch, with more distilleries planned for Campbeltown, this festival is set to grow once these open.
Feis Ile is annual pilgrimage for the thousands of peat heads and smoke fans who adore this wonderful little island and all of its distilleries.
A nine-day celebration of the island itself as well as songs, poetry, history, piping, food, classes for Gaelic song and language, the acclaimed resident distilleries usually have a range of events spread across the festival with many of them releasing much sought after limited edition releases for the event.
The distillery programme is usually announced in early spring with Feis Ile taking place in late May into early June.
The two-day Glasgow Coffee Festival celebrates speciality coffee, and is produced by renowned Glasgow B Corp Dear Green Coffee Roasters.
It is held in May in Briggait - a historic Glasgow city centre venue - and hosts coffee professionals from across the country who will showcase their products, skills and passion to thousands of coffee lovers.
This festival of all things wild food will be back in May 2025 over two days. It sees visitors taking part in foraging walks and woodland trails; wilderness craft workshops and wild food demonstrations; as well as learning about medicinal plants and the benefits of wild teas.
There is an extensive range of free and paid-for events and activities, suitable for people of all ages.
This celebration of Scottish seafood takes place in the spring in the St James Quarter in Edinburgh city centre.
Taking place over a weekend, festival goers can watch chef demonstrations and masterclasses from the St James Quarter and beyond.
There's also a food market and supper clubs.
Set up in 2010 by the Fyne Ales team as a small beer, music and local food festival, Fynefest has grown over the years from 350 visitors in the early days to over 2000 to date.
Celebrating Scottish produce, the award-winning festival takes place in the Fyne Ales brewery estate in June.
For those looking to soak up the beautiful scenery, a drink can be enjoyed at the Walker’s Bar located an hour’s walk up Glen Fyne in an old bothy.
Live music is also a big part of the festival, and a range of bands playing an eclectic mix of music will be on stage from the Friday night.
Scotland's biggest agriculture extravaganza takes place in mid-to-late-June and is a bit like Glastonbury for farmers.
The Royal Highland Show is held at the Royal Highland Centre in Ingliston, near Edinburgh and sees around 2,000 exhibitors - with over 6,000 livestock - compete to win awards, trophies and cash prizes.
This annual foodie event takes place at Scone Palace over three days in June and shines a light on the benefits of wild-harvested meats, including the sustainability and conservation involved in the sourcing, the nutrition gained from lean game meat choices, and the incredible flavour released.
With celebrity chef demonstrations, an array of food and drink, kids activities and stalls, it's a fun day out for all the family.
This popular, one-day festival offers visitors the chance to sample the best food and drink that the North East of Scotland has to offer.
Taking place in June, visitors can purchase dishes made from local produce, sample beers, wine, gin and whisky, and enjoy a fresh seafood marketplace.
Celebrity chefs host masterclasses and demonstrations and there's live music, children's entertainment and cookery competitions.
The Scottish National Whisky Festival takes place in Inverness Eden Court in late June, following a fantastic celebration in the city last year.
In 2024 the Inverness edition gave festival-goers the opportunity to sample hundreds of whiskies from world-renowned distilleries and independent bottlers; explore exciting guest spirits and experimental flavours across the exhibitor line up; and indulge in tantalising creations from world class mixologists at bespoke cocktail pop-ups.
The Scottish National Whisky Festival also features a specially-curated bill of live music and seminars from celebrated Scottish performers, speakers and industry experts across each session, handpicked to reflect the energy and identity of each festival city.
The inaugural Dundee Food Festival took place in July 2024 with more than 55 fringe events, including free activities, all across the city.
The family-friendly festival encourages attendees to eat, drink, play and think, is organised by Dundee City Council to support the food, drink and hospitality sector while highlighting the city’s strong cultural scene.
Dundee Food Festival has been organised in collaboration with local partners including the Eden Project, V&A Dundee, James Hutton Institute and Eat and Drink Dundee, all of whom are involved in the many events taking place.
The festival - which usually takes place in July - usually features about 80 stalls including delicious caterers, cruelty-free clothing, vegan skincare and cosmetics, local charities and much more.
There are usually products you won't find in the supermarket, recipes, nutritional advice and budget cooking ideas, free samples, insightful talks and cookery demonstrations.
Launched in 2014 by Assembly Festival to celebrate Scotland’s Year of Food and Drink, the Edinburgh Food Festival remains the city's only city-centre free-to-enter food festival, and it is usually on in July.
The festival welcomes visitors of all ages to Assembly George Square Gardens and is a hotspot for Scottish street food; regular festival stallholders include Alandas Gelato and Fish & Chips (East Lothian), Jarvis Pickle (Berwickshire), Chick & Pea Street Food (Edinburgh) and Bellfield Brewery (Edinburgh).
With quality Scottish food at the heart of it, Edinburgh Food Festival is a fantastic introduction for visitors to sample a taste of what Scotland’s larder has to offer.
Dundee Cocktail Week now takes place in mid July and is a 10 day celebration of drinks, and food, in the city.
It was first launched in 2022 and has traditionally taken place in October. It is estimated that it generated £487,021 for the local economy in 2023 alone.
Establishments from high-end cocktail bars such as Bird and Bear, Jute Bar and Temple Lane to local boozers including The Barrelman, Bertie Mooney’s and The Tinsmith are just some of the venues lined-up to offer a series of signature drinks.
It’s not just bars getting in on the action. Restaurants have signed up, too, with Dundee’s popular The Tayberry, Malmaison, Black Mamba and The Horeb Food Co offering unique menus and dishes throughout the event.
This national food and drink festival comes to Scotland - Edinburgh and Glasgow - in August.
Both events take place over two days and feature celebrity chef demonstrations, live music, kids activities, street food and meet the authors.
Foodies Festival takes place in Edinburgh's Inverleith Park and Rouken Glen in Glasgow.
Edinburgh Cocktail Week launched in 2017 with the vision to create a new, experiential festival that inspires and excites people to come together to celebrate and support Edinburgh’s incredible cocktail culture and create life-long memories.
Edinburgh Cocktail Week is now established at the UK’s biggest cocktail festival attracting over 24,000 visitors annually.
The social format of Edinburgh Cocktail Week is designed to move people around the city introducing them to new tastes, experiences and venues, with customer spend invested into local businesses and jobs at a time of year that is traditionally quieter for the hospitality sector in Edinburgh.
Taking place in October, hundreds of Edinburgh bars take part and offer special drinks, discounted prices and events.
The much-loved festival, which takes just a short distance from the native oyster bed that inspired it, marks the start of the UK’s native oyster season. It has fast become one of the south of Scotland’s most successful events, attracting thousands of visitors to Stranraer each September.
The Stranraer Oyster Festival launched in 2017 as a community-led regeneration project to ‘change the story of Stranraer’ from a story of economic decline to a story of destination opportunity. With six successful festivals delivered, the event has had a cumulative economic impact of more than £7m for the scenic former ferry port in south west Scotland.
The 2024 festival programme reunites two TV chef double acts – BBC’s Spice Kings Tony Singh and Cyrus Todiwala, and STV’s Hot Wok stars Julie Lin and Jimmy Lee.
They’ll be joined in the festival demo kitchen by Pam Brunton whose multiple award-winning restaurant Inver is the only restaurant in Scotland to receive a Michelin Green Star, which recognises restaurants that combine culinary excellence with outstanding eco-friendly commitments.
This new seafood festival kicked off in September 2023 and was a great success.
The one-day festival celebrating the region’s seafood sector is free to attend, is family-friendly and celebrates the bounty of the sea highlighting the rich fishing heritage of Peterhead, Europe’s largest white fishing port.
A seafood market gives attendees the chance to sample and purchase some of the finest produce in Aberdeenshire while live cooking demonstrations sees top local talent cook up a storm with quality seafood.
Live music and children’s activities keep the whole family entertained and educational exhibits inspire festivalgoers to deep dive into the history of this long-standing industry.
Taking place in early September, this festival is a celebration of whisky from the Hebrides.
Expect expert tastings, live music and local food and drink showcasing Hebridean distilleries including Torabhaig, Isle of Raasay, Harris and Talisker.
Taking place in September, the Scottish Rum Festival was created by Jacine and Paul Rutasikwa, who make Matugga rum and Liv liqueurs in Livingston.
The Scottish Rum Festival aims to spotlight the category and range of rums created in Scotland and started off as a virtual event.
Now it's in-person, usually in Edinburgh but it's coming to Glasgow for 2024. Expect panel discussions, Q&As, cocktail masterclasses, food pairings, cookery demonstrations and talks - and lots of rum.
This two day drink festival is a sister event of Spirit of Speyside, and takes place in Elgin every September.
Held for the final time at Elgin Town Hall before it undergoes a major refurbishment next year, Distilled will take place in 2024 on 6 and 7 September where it’s not all about whisky, giving attendees the opportunity to also enjoy a variety of rum, gin, vodka, cocktails and craft beers as well as food from Speyside’s larder.
With Speyside home to 51 distilleries, the Sampling Hall will play host to over 20 stands where visitors can enjoy a dram and speak to some of the biggest global players in the industry. Distilleries and blenders taking part include Glenfiddich, The Glenlivet, Balvenie, The GlenAllachie, Gordon & MacPhail, Cardhu, Strathisla, Murray McDavid and Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky. For those who love a gin, Caorrunn, Gordon Castle and Red Door gins will also be pouring samples.
Usually taking place over the Glasgow September weekend, this street food festival includes food, drink, tunes and kids activities and is located on the Kelvin Way and Bandstand.
The festival kicked off in 2023 and went down a storm, so its return has already created a massive buzz.
The celebration of the Granite City’s drinks scene began in 2022, organised by Gregor Sey, who owns mobile cocktail business Boozy Events.
More than 30 bars take part in the event which will runs in mid-October. Venues include bars such as Siberia, Orchid, Ninety-Nine, The Ivy Lodge, Resident X and Shapeshifters escape room and cocktail experience.
Each of the venues will offer special menu items, such as a signature drink and a £5 cocktail, with some also offering non-alcoholic options or food menu items.
As the name suggests, Foraging Fortnight is a celebration of Scotland's natural environment and wild food.
From coastal exploration to herbal wellness, wild food feasts to fireside evenings and topical talks, the Foraging Fortnight festival allows people to explore Scotland’s natural larder and increase their knowledge of wild food and medicinal plants.
It takes place in ate August and early September and there's a range of free and ticketed events, with each region - Fife, Moray, Lanarkshire, Orkney and the Forth Valley and Lomond - hosting tailored different things to showcase its surroundings and unique local flora.
Glasgow’s Whisky Festival is held at Hampden Park in November. The festival runs over two sessions - early afternoon and early evening.
As one of the biggest festivals in the country, there is usually more 50 whisky stands featuring Scotland’s best drams, as well as whiskies from all over the world.
Whisky-related art, books, food and other items will also be available on the day.
Fizz Feast, Scotland's only sparkling wine festival, takes place in November in Edinburgh and is an ideal pre-festive day out for fizz fans.
The festival brings together diverse producers, offering up to 100 sparkling wines from all over the world, including Champagne, Cava, Prosecco, Italian Franciacorta, Crémant, South Africa’s Cap Classique and more, to try as well as buy.
The festival was founded by award-winning wine event organiser Diana Thompson, who has more than 30 years’ experience in the wine and hospitality industry, and is a Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) certified tutor.
