Lima’s Biggest Coffee Festival Is Free, and It Has 154 Stands
PERU · FOOD & DRINK
Key Facts
- When Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 August 2026, from 10am to 9pm both days.
- Where Concha Acústica del Campo de Marte, Avenida Horacio Urteaga, Jesús María, Lima.
- Price Entry is free, with no ticket needed to walk in.
- Size 154 stands this year, against 104 in August 2025.
- Competition The national finals of two barista championships are held on site.
- Catch Some tastings need advance registration on the festival website.
Two days, 154 stands and free entry, in a country that exports most of its best beans.
The Festival Cafesazo Peruano returns to Lima on 29 and 30 August. Entry is free, and this edition is half again as large as last year’s.
What the festival actually is
The Festival Cafesazo Peruano is a two-day open-air coffee fair. It fills the amphitheatre at Campo de Marte in the Jesús María district.
This is the eighth edition. It has grown into the largest gathering of its kind in Peru.
The format is simple. Growers, roasters and cafes take a stand, and visitors walk between them tasting and buying.
El Comercio reports 154 stands this year. That compares with 104 in August 2025, a jump of nearly half in twelve months.
Peru celebrates its national coffee day in the same month, and the festival has become the centrepiece of it.
Dates, hours and what it costs
The Festival Cafesazo Peruano runs on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 August 2026. Both days open at 10am and close at 9pm.
Entry is free. The organisers put it plainly: the ingreso is completamente gratuito.
You do not need a ticket to walk in. You simply arrive during opening hours.
Food and drink from the stands are sold separately. Those prices are not published in advance.
Both days follow the same timetable, so a Saturday visit and a Sunday visit look much alike.
The registration catch
Free entry does not mean everything inside is unlimited. Some tastings require you to register first.
El Comercio says advance registration on the festival website is needed to reach some of the degustaciones.
The Eventbrite listing offers a free hot or cold coffee at the filter bar from 10am, while stocks last.
The festival has not published the exact web address or the registration steps. Arriving early is the safer plan.
Registration is free where it exists. It exists to stop popular tastings being overwhelmed in the first hour.
The barista finals
The Festival Cafesazo Peruano also hosts competition. Two national barista championship finals are decided on site.
For a visitor this is the most watchable part of the weekend. Judging happens in front of the crowd.
Barista competitions are timed and scored on taste, technique and presentation. Nothing is hidden from the audience.
You do not need to know the rules to enjoy it. The tension carries the room.
Winners of these finals go on to represent Peru abroad, which raises the stakes considerably for the competitors.
Why Peruvian coffee is easy to miss
Peru is a significant coffee producer, but most of its best beans leave the country. Domestic consumption has historically been low.
That gap is what events like this one are built to close. The festival is as much a domestic market as a celebration.
For a foreign visitor, this means access to lots you would otherwise have to import. You are meeting the producer directly.
Prices at origin are usually well below what the same bean costs abroad.
Peruvian coffee is grown mostly by smallholders in the northern highlands, in Cajamarca, Amazonas and San Martín.
Getting to Campo de Marte
The Festival Cafesazo Peruano is held at Campo de Marte, a large public park in Jesús María, close to central Lima.
The venue inside the park is the Concha Acústica, an open-air amphitheatre. The listed address is Avenida Horacio Urteaga.
Taxi apps work normally in this part of the city. Traffic on a Saturday afternoon is the main obstacle.
The park is flat and walkable. Comfortable shoes matter more than anything else.
The park sits between the Jesús María and Lince districts and is easy for any driver to find.
What to bring
Bring cash. Small stands at Peruvian fairs do not always take cards.
Bring a bag. Buying beans is the point, and they add up quickly.
Pace yourself on the tastings. Eleven hours of espresso is a long day.
Arrive earlier rather than later if you want the free filter coffee, which runs while stocks last.
Water is worth carrying. Lima in late August is cool but the crowd and the queues are tiring.
Is it worth a trip
For anyone living in Lima, this is an easy yes. It is free, central and only runs twice a year in this form.
For a visitor timing a trip, the Festival Cafesazo Peruano on 29 and 30 August is the anchor. Everything else can be built around it.
The Festival Cafesazo Peruano is not a polished international trade show. It is a large, busy, local fair.
That is precisely its value. You meet the people who grew the coffee.
Bring someone who does not much like coffee. The Festival Cafesazo Peruano tends to convert them by the second hour.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the Festival Cafesazo Peruano?
The Festival Cafesazo Peruano runs Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 August 2026, from 10am to 9pm both days.
How much does it cost to get in?
Nothing. Entry is free and no ticket is required.
Where exactly is it held?
At the Concha Acústica in Campo de Marte, Avenida Horacio Urteaga, in the Jesús María district of Lima.
Do I need to register for anything?
Entry needs no registration, but some tastings do. Register on the festival website in advance.
How big is it this year?
There are 154 stands, up from 104 in August 2025, plus two national barista finals.
Sources
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