Every year at the end of June, large parts of downtown Stavanger are transformed. For three days, the city centre is dedicated to eating and drinking, with over 100 stands serving locals and visitors who come to experience the joys of food.

This event is the Gladmat Festival, or the “Happy Food” festival in English. It lives up to its name. Alongside local restaurants, celebrity chefs, and space for a dedicated brewery & cider festival, there’s live music, DJs at outdoor cafes, and a giant dancefloor.

“Especially in the evenings and on weekends, the city is bustling with people and the festival atmosphere is palpable,” says the festival manager, Inger Lomeland.

“You can shop for great products to take home, grab a dish on the go for just 50 and 75 NOK, or sit down and sample multiple dishes. Then, once you’ve finished, hit the dance floor for extra good vibes!”

The emphasis is rightly on everyone having a good time. But there’s a deeper purpose to the festival too, as Inger explains.

“We want people not just to enjoy themselves, but to gain new insight into how lucky we are to live in Norway’s best food region. We’ve got top-tier ingredients, producers, and world-class chefs, all just around the corner.”

She’s right. Stavanger is at the heart of the Food County Rogaland, a region recognised for its culinary prowess. Its produce and ecosystem has given Stavanger excellent conditions to create some of the world’s best food. And in recognition of this, in 2024 the city earned 5 stars, with Restaurant Re-Naa as the first city outside Oslo to receive 3 stars

“All these restaurants are partners of the Gladmat Festival. We’re so pleased to be part of this network of fantastic chefs, many of whom come back to the festival year after year.”

In fact, this year, one of the focus area is “local”—and the programme is fittingly a roll call of the top chefs in Norway. In the large Kokepunktet tent at the event “Kjøkkenfesten”, you’ll meet chefs including Nicolai Lundsgaard (head chef at the Norwegian Royal Palace), Roger Joya (from Sabi Omakase / Sabi Enso), Sven Erik Renaa (from Re-Naa), and more. Plus, visitors will be introduced to Nils Rennan Lilleheie & Eyvind Hellstrøm, this year’s honorary guests.

Every evening, there’s Kjøkkenfesten, or the “Kitchen Party”, where special guests host a special party.

“At parties, mini-parties tend to kick off in the kitchen. That’s what we try to replicate with Kjøkkenfesten. These intimate events give us an opportunity to be close to what we eat and drink, learn, and have fun. Of course, there’ll be music too!”

In and around the big events, visitors also have the opportunity to take food tours of the Pedersgata (“Stavanger’s new food mecca”, as Inger says). Adults can attend the beer and cider festival, while in Barnas Gladmat kids can develop their culinary understanding too. Wherever you are in the festival, though, you’ll find local restaurants showcasing their newest flavours, all for 75 kroner a dish.

“We hope to see Stavanger filled with happy people experiencing new things. And at the same time, we want to enable exhibitors to share their most fantastic products, boost their sales, and test new ideas.”

Inger shares the story of Seoul Søstre (“Seoul Sisters”), a Korean outlet in Norway that first revealed their dishes at Gladmat in 2023.

“After their success at Gladmat, they launched a food truck, a takeaway, and now they’ve just signed a deal for a restaurant in Pedersgata to open at the end of 2025. This year, they’re returning to Gladmat to try out new dishes and reach new audiences.”

In this way, for local businesses, Gladmat is not just a one-off sales platform. Instead, it’s an opportunity for restaurants and makers to build new ways of working for the whole year ahead.

There are other ways that the festival helps to support the local food community too. For instance, Gladmat uses its platform to advocate for environmentally friendly solutions within the food industry and to share knowledge about food waste and the local industry.

“We have over 200,000 people that come to this festival, so we really need to do it sustainably. That’s why we make sure we run a “circular” festival. As part of this effort, we donate all surplus food to an emergency shelter in Stavanger. And we encourage all our visitors to recycle as much as they can. Every year we do better and better, and in 2023 we managed to recycle over half of the waste we produced.”

It means that the Gladmat Festival is able to put on such a show while limiting its environmental impact. It’s another way that it promotes the joy of food.

“We’re very grateful to work with some of the best local producers, suppliers, and sponsors, to keep our environmental footprint low. And we need to thank our supporters and partners that work tirelessly to ensure everything falls into place,” Inger says.

“We’re so lucky to have them—and to be able for the 26th time to welcome everyone to the world’s best food festival.”