Athens Burger Festival. Photo: Amit Cotler When summer ends, Athens doesn't slow down; it swaps beaches and islands for a series of culinary festivals and food and drink events. In the coming weeks, the city and its surroundings will host events that are suitable for both tourists looking for a local experience and food, coffee, cocktail and nightlife enthusiasts.
One of the most notable events is Burger Fest, a burger festival that will be held on September 18-20 and 25-27 at the Old OSY complex in the Gazi neighborhood. It is a six-day event, with 11 burger restaurants offering unique dishes created especially for the festival. Along with the food, there will be live performances, DJs, games, beer and drinks.
The event has been held in Athens since 2016 and has become one of the city's most iconic food events. For tourists, it's also a chance to sample the local street food scene in one place.
This coming weekend, September 19-20, the Athens Cocktail Market will take place at the Kipseli Municipal Market. For two days, the market will be transformed into a cocktail complex with stands of beverage brands, bartenders, specialty cocktails, music and street food. The event will take place between 4:00 PM and 11:00 PM, admission to the complex is free and tastings are available with the purchase of a ticket for 8 euros.
Athens Cocktail Festival. Photo: ShutterstockOn September 26-28, the Technopolis complex in Gazi will host the Athens Coffee Festival, which bills itself as one of the main coffee events in Greece. More than 200 brands and roasters are expected to participate, with coffee from countries including Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ethiopia and Vietnam.
In addition to espresso and the traditional Greek coffee, Pardo Espresso, visitors will also be able to taste coffee-based cocktails, participate in workshops and lectures, watch barista competitions and enjoy performances by local DJs. Hours of operation: 10:00-20:00 on weekends and 12:00-20:00 on Mondays.
Photo: ShutterstockThe Athens Asian Food Festival will take place from September 25-27 at Pedion tou Areos Park. This year, the festival will expand to a larger area and feature a kind of "Asian village" with food stalls, bars, music and cultural activities.
Next month is also expected to be busy. On October 10-11, the Piraeus 260 Gastronomos Food Festival, dedicated to Greek gastronomy, will return to the complex. Restaurants from different regions of Greece will showcase their local cuisines, alongside tastings, Greek wines, cooking demonstrations, workshops and music.
So if you arrive in Athens at the end of September or during October, it is not only a more pleasant time to travel around the city, but also one of the most interesting times of the year for food and drink enthusiasts, with events throughout the cit