Greece's Biggest Coffee Event Just Got Even Bigger—A Look at the 2026 Athens Coffee Festival

The Athens Coffee Festival returned to Technopolis on September 26 to 28, with over 200 brands, the Hellenic Coffee Championships, seminars, DJ sets, and more.

BY VASILEIA FANARIOTI
SENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT

Photos courtesy of the Athens Coffee Festival

What to know:

• This year, the Athens Coffee Festival expanded its format and scale, bringing more than 200 coffee brands and micro-roasters to Technopolis
• Education, competition, and live entertainment remained central to the festival, with Coffee Matters seminars covering sustainability, consumer trends, the coffee value chain, and sensory skills, alongside the Hellenic Coffee Championships, including AeroPress, Roasting, and Cezve/Ibrik competitions
• The festival blended coffee culture with community and entertainment, featuring DJ sets, comedy, games, and growing participation from IWCA Greece, creating an event that served both coffee professionals and the broader public

There is something reliable about the Athens Coffee Festival. Every September, the industrial courtyards of Technopolis fill with the smell of freshly brewed coffee, the sound of competing espresso machines, and a crowd that spans specialty professionals, home enthusiasts, and everyone in between.

I’ve attended more editions than I can count at this point, and the 2026 edition, hosted by Forum SA from September 26 to 28, did not disappoint. What changes each year is the scale—and this year, that shift was noticeable from the moment you walked in.

A new format

The most visible change for 2026 was the introduction of seven Super Hosts: prominent Greek personalities who coordinated the daily program across all three days for the first time. It was a shift in format that reflected where ACF is headed: a space that gives visitors genuine access to the people and businesses shaping Greek coffee culture, while making the festival itself somewhere people want to spend an entire weekend.

Saturday and Sunday were designed for a broad audience—live music, entertainment, and coffee in equal measure. Monday was the industry day, more focused and trade-facing, and the one that felt most like a dedicated professional gathering.

The coffee & the learning

Over 200 premium brands and micro-roasteries poured across the three days, with coffees from producing regions including Brazil, Panama, Indonesia, and Peru. The Coffee Matters seminar series—the most industry-facing part of the program—ran alongside.

The 2026 topics covered the coffee value chain from producer to cup, sustainability in practice with panels featuring roastery owners and equipment professionals, best-selling drink formats, global consumer trends, and sensory decoding sessions. Speakers were drawn from across the Greek industry—roastery founders, café owners, educators, and brand managers—and the sessions consistently filled their rooms.

The competitions

The Hellenic Coffee Championships took place across all three days, with results feeding into Greece’s national qualification process for international competition. The 9th Hellenic AeroPress Championship was one of the most watched formats of the weekend. The Roasting and Cezve/Ibrik Championships rounded out a competition program that gave the weekend genuine stakes alongside the festival atmosphere.

As a member of IWCA Greece — the local chapter of the International Women’s Coffee Alliance — I was at the festival alongside the chapter this year, as I have been since the beginning. IWCA Greece launched at ACF a few years ago with a small group and a clear mission: to support and connect women working across the Greek coffee industry. It was good to see the chapter’s presence grow again this year, and to see more women from the industry finding each other in the room. The festival has always been a good place for that kind of thing to happen.

Women in the room

As a member of IWCA Greece, the local chapter of the International Women’s Coffee Alliance, I was at the festival alongside the chapter this year, as I have been since the beginning. IWCA Greece launched at ACF a few years ago with a small group and a clear mission: to support and connect women working across the Greek coffee industry. It was good to see the chapter’s presence grow again this year, and to see more women from the industry finding each other in the room. The festival has always been a good place for that kind of thing to happen.

A festival that works

What struck me most about this year’s edition was how naturally the two worlds coexisted—interactive games, comedy shows, and DJ sets running alongside cupping sessions and championship heats, with neither feeling out of place. It is a format that works precisely because it doesn’t ask you to choose between being an industry professional and having a good time. For anyone tracking the Greek coffee market, this is where the conversation happens.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Vasileia Fanarioti (she/her) is a senior online correspondent for Barista Magazine and a freelance copywriter and editor with a primary focus on the coffee niche. She has also been a volunteer copywriter for the I’M NOT A BARISTA NPO, providing content to help educate people about baristas and their work.

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