Welcome to the Sprudge Coffee Events Calendar! This is your go-to resource for upcoming coffee festivals, barista competitions, cupping sessions, latte art throwdowns, coffee trade shows, roaster pop-ups, and specialty coffee community gatherings around the world. Whether you’re a professional barista, coffee roaster, café owner, or passionate home brewer, this coffee events guide helps you discover where to taste, learn, compete, and connect in the global coffee scene.
Ljubljana Coffee Festival 2026
Ljubljana Coffee Festival 2026: Slovenia’s Largest Specialty Coffee Event Returns to a New Home
Ljubljana, Slovenia –
The Ljubljana Coffee Festival returns on September 26–27, 2026, this year moving to a new venue — Center Rog, Ljubljana — for what promises to be one of its most ambitious editions since the festival launched in 2016.
The festival continues to be the largest specialty coffee event in Slovenia, bringing together producers, scientists, roasters, barista champions, and coffee enthusiasts from across Europe and beyond.
Festival Highlights
The 2026 programme spans two days and six stages. Visitors can enjoy:
Unlimited tastingsof exceptional seasonal coffees from leading Slovenian and international roasters.
The Barista Battle Challenge 2026, where top baristas compete across four disciplines: espresso, latte art, cupping, and signature drinks.
The Latte Art Throwdown 2026, a knockout-style competition of creativity and precision.
The Sensory Room, featuring curated cuppings and sensory science sessions with importers, roasters, and researchers — including sessions hosted by Cofinet, Unroasted, Cata Export, Grounds, Mae Coffee, and Covoya.
A lively Roasters Village, showcasing cutting-edge equipment, green coffee, and local talent.
Workshopsfor all levels — from Espresso Basics and Pour-over to Latte Art and Turkish Coffee.
La Marzocco Homeactivations, with hands-on experience of the Micra, Mini, GS3 and Strada X home machines.
Modbar tastingsacross both festival days.
Speakers & Topics at THE LAB
At the heart of the festival is THE LAB, a lecture and workshop series featuring some of the most influential voices in global coffee. Among the confirmed speakers for 2026:
Lori Brnčićfrom Filteraj, Zagreb, presenting on coffee and plant-based milk pairing — and the science behind microfoamy alternatives.
Camilo Merizaldefrom Santuario Project, Colombia, exploring innovative processing and fermentation techniques.
Dr. Samo Smrkefrom ZHAW, Zurich, taking a deep scientific look at espresso — past, present, and future — and leading a hands-on sensory session on fermented flavours.
A documentary film premiere— Colombia, the Origin of Excellence — presented by Mojca Mavec, one of Slovenia’s most recognized television presenters and travel journalists, alongside
Stow Coffee.
Panel Forum: The Evolution of Specialty Coffee in the Region
Sunday’s program closes with the LCF Panel Forum, this year dedicated to tracing the evolution of specialty coffee across Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia— where it began, who built it, and where it goes next. Panelists will be announced shortly.
Join the Celebration
Year after year, the Ljubljana Coffee Festival has grown into something the region genuinely needed — a place where real conversations happen, new ideas find an audience, and the coffee scene across Slovenia and beyond keeps pushing itself further. This edition is no different. Don’t miss it.
Visit ljubljanacoffeefestival.si for tickets and further information.