Laatst bijgewerkt op: 18/04/2026
Those who have been involved with chocolate for some time know that taste is not separate from origin, processing and context. The Amsterdam Chocolate Festival 2026 is therefore not about quick bites or superficial trends, but about exploring cocoa as an ingredient, as a product and as a culture. It is an event for people who like to taste, compare and peruse, and who understand that chocolate can be as layered as wine, coffee or whiskey.
The Chocolate Festival Amsterdam is a consumer event with more than a hundred stands, where chocolate makers, cacao producers and brands showcase their products. You will walk past bean-to-bar bars, cocoa drinks, ingredients and applications, talk to makers themselves and taste their chocolate in direct connection with the story behind it.
What distinguishes the Chocolate Festival from a classic market or food festival is its emphasis on content. Tasting here is not done in isolation from knowledge, and booths are the starting point for deeper learning. Many participants work with single origin cocoa, transparent chains and artisanal production methods, and use the event to explain those very choices.
The festival thus becomes a place where discovery and learning come together. There you can meet new makers, compare styles and sharpen your own taste framework, as well as take the step toward deepening through tastings and master classes.
The tasting program is structured into different levels so that both curious enthusiasts and experienced tasters will find their niche.
Introductory Tastings
The introductory tastings are low-key but substantive. These sessions will introduce you to international chocolate makers who will explain their chocolate from the point of origin and manufacturing process. You will learn to taste more consciously and get tools to recognize and name flavors. These tastings are included in the festival ticket and form a second floor for many visitors.
Tasteful stories
For those who have tasted chocolate before and are looking for more context, there are tastings where taste and story come together. Here the emphasis is on origin, style and learning to compare. You taste several chocolates side by side and discover how variable cocoa can be, depending on terroir, fermentation and processing.
VIP tastings
VIP tastings are smaller in scale and focus on luxury and nuance. In these sessions, you taste special and limited-edition chocolates, often paired with beverages such as wine, whiskey, rum or beer. The focus is on balance and interaction between flavors, and on deepening your sensory frame of reference.
Get well prepared for the Chocolate Festival Amsterdam 2026:
read our article Chocolate tasting in 7 steps
In addition to tastings, the Chocolate Festival offers a series of master classes that approach cocoa as an ingredient in its own right. These sessions tie in with the master class program on the festival’s website and show how widely cocoa can be used.
There are master classes on cocoa in beverages, zooming in on hot and cold applications, energy, mouthfeel and flavor construction. Chocolate ice cream and sorbet are also covered in depth, with attention to the use of real couverture, fat content and the influence of provenance on taste and texture.
Another angle is cooking with cocoa. In these master classes, cocoa is pulled out of the dessert domain and used in savory, vegetable dishes. Pure cocoa, in the form of mass and powder, plays a central role. The focus is on balancing bitter, sour and fat, and discovering new applications in both home and professional cooking.
Finally, there are master classes combining cocoa and chocolate with spirits and cocktails. Here the focus is on pairing, flavor enhancement and understanding how cocoa works together with alcoholic beverages, with rum as a key starting point.
An important addition to the program is the Pairing Square, a place at the festival where chocolate will be paired with products such as wine, whiskey, cheese and other culinary combinations. “We want to show that chocolate is as layered and versatile as wine, for example,” said Jack Steijn, co-founder of Chocoa and Amsterdam Cocoa Week.
In addition, the experience will have a greater role. Music, atmosphere and new applications of cocoa, including outside food and drink, make the festival a complete experience. Tasting is central, but always in context.
The Chocolate Festival forms the public weekend of Amsterdam Cocoa Week, where professionals from around the world come together around sustainable cocoa and chocolate. What is discussed there substantively and internationally, the festival translates into an accessible form for a wide audience.
That link makes the event unique. You not only taste beautiful products, but also the ideas and developments that are shaping the future of cocoa.
The Chocolate Festival will take place on Saturday, Feb. 21 and Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, at the Beurs van Berlage, in downtown Amsterdam. Tickets for the festival give access to the stands and part of the tastings. Separate tickets are required for in-depth tastings and master classes.
Most tastings and master classes have a limited number of places and can be booked in part in advance through the program on the Chocolate Festival website. Those who want to learn more would do well to review the program in advance and make choices so that the event becomes more than just a tour of booths.
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