The smell of seared scallops, the clink of a freshly shaken negroni, the squeak of a wedge of Mull cheddar being sliced in front of you — the Eat & Drink Festival is back at the SEC from Friday 22 to Monday 25 May, and Glasgow's foodies are already loosening their belts.
Running as part of the Ideal Home Show Scotland, the four-day festival pulls together artisan producers, street food traders, mixologists and celebrity chefs under one roof at the Scottish Event Campus on the Clyde. Organisers expect upwards of 31,000 visitors across the weekend, with an average dwell time of four hours — long enough to eat your way around the country without leaving Finnieston.
The practical bit
Where: Scottish Event Campus (SEC), Exhibition Way, Glasgow G3 8YW.
When: Friday 22 May to Monday 25 May 2026. Doors from 10am, with the Friday session running until 6pm.
Getting there: Exhibition Centre rail station sits at the SEC's front door, with frequent services from Glasgow Central. The campus is a 15-minute walk along the river from the city centre, and there are 500 paid parking spaces on site for drivers.
Tickets: Bookable via the official Ideal Home Show Scotland website. Family tickets and weekday discounts are usually offered — worth checking before you turn up at the door.
Scotland's pantry, all in one hall
The pull of the Eat & Drink Festival has always been the producers, and the 2026 line-up leans hard into Scottish provenance. Confirmed exhibitors include Isle of Mull Cheese and Spirit, the Scottish Honeyberry Growers with their tart, antioxidant-packed berries, the Leith Liquor Company, and Shore, the Edinburgh seaweed specialists turning kelp into crisps and seasonings.
Expect tasting tables groaning with smoked salmon, oatcakes, fudge, gin, craft beer and small-batch chocolate — and exhibitors who, refreshingly, actually want you to try before you buy.
Chef demos and mixology
A rolling programme of celebrity chef demonstrations runs across all four days on the main stage, covering everything from modern Scottish cooking to sustainable kitchen practice. Organisers promise more than 15 sessions in total, with seats free to ticket-holders on a first-come-first-served basis — turn up ten minutes early if you want a front-row view of the chopping board.
For the cocktail-curious, interactive mixology workshops run alongside the demos, with bartenders walking small groups through the techniques behind a properly built old fashioned or a Scottish-twist negroni. Hexclad returns as headline sponsor, with its non-stick pans getting a workout in the demonstration kitchens.
Bringing the kids
The festival markets itself squarely at grown-up foodies — 90% of visitors are aged between 35 and 64, according to organisers — but families are very much welcome. Because the Eat & Drink Festival sits inside the wider Ideal Home Show Scotland, a single ticket gets you into the gardens, interiors, and lifestyle halls too, where children's activities and craft demonstrations run throughout the weekend. Pushchair-friendly aisles, clean loos, and a sit-down street food court make a half-day visit manageable with little ones in tow.
Why bother?
Because for the price of a ticket and a bit of holiday-weekend traffic, you get a four-hour wander through the best of Scotland's larder, a couple of free chef demos, and the chance to meet the people actually making the food you usually buy in jars. Ninety-four percent of last year's visitors rated the show highly; 86% bought food and drink on the day. Make a plan, wear stretchy trousers, and pace yourself at the cheese counter.
The Eat & Drink Festival runs at the SEC, Glasgow, from Friday 22 to Monday 25 May 2026. Tickets and the full exhibitor list are available via idealhomeshowscotland.co.uk.
