Madrid is an inexhaustible source of great plans, whatever your tastes. From the best musicals to some of today’s best museums, from world-class restaurants to a tour of monuments. It has it all.
Today we have thought of those who enjoy food. Who fall in love with every bite and who value every sip as something unique. You are in luck, we bring you a plan that is very difficult to match.
Let’s take a tour of the best food festivals around the capital. Throughout the year there are numerous events with food and drink at their epicentre. And we’re going to take a look at the most important ones so you can enjoy yourself like a child at an amusement park.
In addition, as a gift, we also bring you some gastronomic markets in Madrid that you can’t miss if you like fresh, top-quality products.
Gastronomic festivals and markets in Madrid
Gastronomic festivals in Madrid
Let’s start with the culinary festivals. Come and enjoy the best tasty and original dishes from all over Madrid.
Art & Wine. Madrid Tour
This idea is so good and so brutal that you’ll want to do it again as soon as you finish. Nothing bad can come out of a union between the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Mercado de San Miguel.
The Art & Wine. Madrid Tour consists of two different routes that aim to make the most of both the museum and the market, but from a different point of view.
Two of the most visited places in Madrid come together to offer you the widest sense of the word culture; both gastronomic and in the world of art. With wine as the central theme, the first option is to take the wine culture route at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum with an audio guide. Here you will see the evolution of how this age-old drink has been represented over the centuries and throughout history.
Continue the route by visiting the Mercado de San Miguel and tasting 3 wines. This tasting can be done through the app, scanning a QR code, so you have all the information and history of the wines you are about to enjoy.
You don’t need to do it all on the same day, although it is true that the full experience is to live it all in a row. The second route you can take starts again at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, although the tour will take place between 9 and 10 am, before opening its doors to the public.
Afterwards, a sommelier will be waiting for us at the Mercado de San Miguel to taste five wines from five different Spanish Denominations of Origin. But that’s not all: the wines will also be paired with excellent dishes from different origins by great chefs.
Stop by the museum to purchase either of the two experiences until February 2025 and enjoy wine in a completely different way.
Paulaner Biergarten Madrid
Don’t let the party stop, and beer lovers, please stop by. From the Gran Teatro Bankia Príncipe Pío there is an event that takes you to the heart of Bavarian gastronomy; welcome to the ‘Beer Garden’.
From the end of May until October, you will be able to taste the best Paulaner beer, just as if you were in Germany. Don’t think it’s just about beer, you’ll also have the option of eating some of the best sausages, pretzels, strudel and sauerkraut you’ve ever tasted.
Quality beer, good quality and varied German food, plus live music on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Can you really think of a better plan?
All Those Food Market
This gastronomic event is much more than that, as you will read below. It is a very special event that takes advantage of its tenth edition to visit Madrid for the first time in its history.
On 21 and 22 September 2024, the All Those Food Market festival leaves Barcelona to visit the capital, specifically the Museo del Ferrocarril (Railway Museum). This is where artisans and entrepreneurs, not only in the gastronomic field, come together.
Everything at this event is exceptional, from what you taste to what you see. From the very beginning the visitor is pampered, with numerous samples and tastings, as well as a tremendous involvement of the restaurants, bars, brands and professionals taking part in this year’s edition, the first in Madrid.
Just to give you an idea, there will be pastries from big names such as Fika Patisserie and Reposted, as well as nuts from Nutnut, ice cream from Bibì e Bibò and bean to bar chocolates from Kaitxo. And we’ve only just started with dessert.
It all starts with a tasting of artisan cheeses and don’t think you’ll be left with nothing to drink. Live an absorbing experience with Alhambra Beers, where you will learn to appreciate all the nuances of its flavour
And they don’t come alone, you can also enjoy a good glass of Aperol as well as many cocktails and signature drinks. A real luxury for the most demanding palates.
To all this, add fusion cuisine and the best street food from all over the world, from Georgia to Japan and Italy, and you’ll not only learn by tasting, you can also get hands-on in one of their workshops, such as the mochis. But you won’t just learn by tasting, you can also get hands-on in one of their workshops, such as the mochis workshop.
We can’t forget that they have a great social and environmental conscience, with brands and products focused on the concept of zero waste and sustainability, as well as great involvement in health, such as the California Walnuts initiative, as tasty as they are healthy.
And between great dishes, new creations, famous faces, tastings and much more, a farewell coffee? With this you will have tasted everything a good lunch has to offer, from appetizers and cocktails to desserts and coffee. Quite a culinary experience.
Hotel Tapa Tour Madrid 2024
From 19 to 29 September, some of Madrid’s most luxurious five and four-star hotels will be pitted against each other to show who is the best in the noble art of tapas cuisine.
This gastronomic event seeks to value the tapa as it deserves, taking it almost to haute cuisine, and the luxury hotels as a meeting place and meeting point where you can enjoy the atmosphere, the cuisine and the bar.
Enjoy this route of luxury cuisine in miniature visiting some emblematic locations in the capital such as the Four Seasons Hotel Madrid, Mandarin Oriental Ritz Madrid or RIU Plaza España.
Madrid Cocktail Week 2024
This event offers exactly what it promises; the best of cocktails; from masterclasses to tastings.
If you’re a cocktail aficionado or just curious about cocktails, don’t hesitate to drop by some of the venues and hotels associated with this event from 19 to 27 October.
You’ll discover everything new in the world of cocktails and, as if that wasn’t enough, from 23 to 27 October, Madrid Cocktail Week The House opens at the Palacio de Santa Bárbara. With more workshops, experiences and events. Take a look at its website to keep up to date and find out about all the places and establishments associated with this week of the most traditional and international cocktail.
Chefs on Fire
A unique gastronomic experience on the international scene will visit Madrid on 5 and 6 October at the Royal Botanical Garden of Alfonso XIII, located at the Complutense University.
Twenty internationally renowned chefs will challenge each other in search of the perfect dish cooked over a wood fire at the perfect point of its fire and embers. From barbecues to grills, all at full capacity and in the hands of chefs from all over the world, which will give us a result as varied and wide-ranging as it is tasty; from roasts to sushi or desserts.
Well-known restaurants from the capital will join the event, offering some of their best-known dishes, as well as live music with an extensive programme of artists.
14º Tapapiés
Lavapiés knows what you like, and from 17 to 27 October you’re going to have a great time at its tapas and music festival. If Lavapiés is already a neighbourhood with a unique atmosphere, imagine it with a festival like this where more than 100 bars and restaurants participate.
Once again the festival is teaming up with Cerveza El Águila, offering visitors the tempting offer of a tapa plus a bottle of El Águila beer for only €3.50. And in addition to the food and the great atmosphere, add to that a series of concerts and activities with a wide-ranging programme designed for all audiences.
Both at midday and in the evening, stop by Arturo Barea, Nelson Mandela and Lavapiés squares to see what’s going on.
Gastronomic markets in Madrid
We are going to review the main markets in the capital, which are as well known and visited as they are loved by the people of Madrid. We also bring you a couple of markets that you may not know about, but which you need to visit.
Mercado de Antón Martín
If we talk about a market in Madrid, among the many that exist, the first name that comes to mind might be Antón Martín. Stalls with food from all over the world, where you can sample flavours from all over the world. Choose to sit down and enjoy yourself while you watch the bustling crowds or take it outside to eat.
Mercado de San Miguel
Rivaling Antón Martín as the most popular market in Madrid is the Mercado de San Miguel, with a fantastic location next to the Plaza Mayor.
Its structure has been declared an asset of cultural interest, and inside beats the heart of the best food, drink and atmosphere in the capital. A must visit and if you have any doubts, remember as the market itself defines itself; ‘the temple of fresh produce where the protagonist is not the chef, but the genre’.
Mercado de la Paz
We now stroll through the Salamanca neighbourhood to reach the Mercado de la Paz. This colourful and welcoming market offers an impressive variety of products, including top quality and gourmet products.
It also has a busy calendar with events, tastings and activities throughout the year. Take a look at their website to keep up to date with everything.
Mercado de San Antón
We change neighbourhoods and give the atmosphere a radical twist, we’re on our way to Chueca. The market in this neighbourhood, San Antón, is like the neighbourhood itself; lively, lively and cosmopolitan.
A real mix of concepts, where gourmet meets tradition, where a tapa can have a live concert as the soundtrack. San Antón is unique, homely, special and very much ours.
Mercado de San Fernando
In Calle Embajadores, in the neighbourhood of the same name but on the edge of Lavapiés, the Mercado de San Fernando draws on that air of Madrilenian mixture to combine traditional food with craft spaces, sale of books by weight with Japanese tastings. Food, first-class atmosphere and alternative activities under the same roof.
Mercado de San Ildefonso
On Calle Fuencarral, known to all Monopoly lovers, we come to the most urban market of all, where street food is of enormous importance and where you can try the newest and most intense flavours.
Don’t let street food make you think it’s fast food and low quality. Nothing could be further from the truth. What is prepared here is made with first-class, fresh products and a lot of love. Traditional dishes with avant-garde touches, plenty of places to nibble and a place to bring it all together: the San Ildefonso Market.
La Chispería de Chamberí
Si no has oído hablar de este lugar, ya iba siendo hora. Por la calle Alonso hay seis puestos con muchas ganas de conocerte y que eches un buen rato de tapeo. Prueba la comida italiana, la fusión de España y México y lo mejor del mar y los ibéricos más sabrosos. Todo eso en un lugar con amplios sitios para poder charlar y disfrutar, además, de postres típicos de cada uno de los lugares que has probado.
Día de Mercado
Once a month you have the opportunity to taste the best products of the community from its producers, forget the middlemen. At the Recinto Ferial Casa de Campo you will taste the wonderful products that come from the Community of Madrid; from honeys to meats, including garden produce.
Take a look at their website because each monthly event focuses on a specific product, although you will always find everything. The next dates are 5 October, 2 November and 7 December. Don’t worry if you can’t find the date for January 2025, Market Day is not celebrated during this month.
Mercado Municipal de Productores Planetario
So, with this cool name, they present us in the Arganzuela District, very close to Parque Tierno Galván, this market focused on the full gastronomic enjoyment of its visitors.
On the first and third Sunday of every month you can stop by to enjoy organic and quality products. It is designed for local producers, who respect the environment and do not seek to make a negative impact on it. Stop by for their top quality products and stay for the good atmosphere.