The Ubud Food Festival 2026 takes place from 28 to 31 May, with four days of food-centric events taking place in Bali’s cultural capital, featuring both national and international speakers, chefs, producers and experts in the culinary industry.
This year, NOW! Magazines will come off the printed pages and be at the festival in person, with our editors and contributors joining the conversation across range of insightful events.
At the Edge: Indonesian Cuisine in Conversation at Bumi Kinar
29 May 2026 | 5pm at Bumi Kinar
At Jingga Restaurant, Bumi Kinar, set deep in the Ubud valley, a conversation and culinary experience focused on Indonesian food will unfold.
The evening starts with a conversation centred on the future of Indonesian food featuring: Bram Hendrata, CEO of Ismaya Group; Oliver Truesdale-Jutras, Head of Culinary for Potato Head; and Made Masak, Balinese nomadic chef and food forager. The conversation will be steered by NOW! Magazines’ Head of Publishing, Edward Speirs.
The conversation will be followed by an Indonesian dinner prepared by Chef Glenn Erari (Semaja, Jakarta), Chef Dick Derian (Potato Head, Bali), and Made Masak (Bali). Chinese, Javanese, Balinese and Papuan influences will come through in the specialty dishes of the night.
Priced at IDR 890.000++ per person
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Cooking from the Roots with Chef Agus and Helianti Hilman
30 May 2026 | 12.30pm at Indus Restaurant
Ibu Helianti Hilman is the founder of Javara Indonesia, a company championing Indonesia’s indigenous ingredients and empowering the communities that harvest them. She is also a cherished contributor to NOW! Jakarta Magazine, through her regular column, Nusantara Gastronomy, where she dissects how land, nature and people come together to create Indonesian cuisine. In ‘Cooking from the Roots’, she will share her knowledge on indigenous ingredients in a conversation with NOW! Magazines’ Head of Publishing, Edward Speirs.
The conversation will be complemented by a Chef’s Table experience guided by Chef Agus Hermawan, the Indonesian chef-owner of Ron Gastro Bar Indonesia, Amsterdam, where he and the restaurant have become ambassadors for authentic Indonesian cooking in the region.
Priced at IDR 350,000++ per person
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Festival Cocktail Competition
31 May 2026 | 12pm at Pinstripe Bar
Come watch young local bartenders fight it out behind the bar with this unique cocktail competition taking place at the iconic Pinstripe Bar. The bartenders have been tasked to reinterpret the island’s native ingredients to produce contemporary concoctions suited for the island’s best bars.
Judges include international award-winning Balinese bartenders, Aris Sanjaya (independent) and Bili Wirawan (Mozaic), as well as NOW! Bali’s Associate Editor, Brian Sjarief.
Free Entry
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The Forest Warriors: A Long Table Lunch at Bambu Indah
31 May 2026 | 12:00 – 14:00
Gather around a long table for a culinary experience that speaks of Indonesia’s diverse landscapes, biomes and environments. Once again, NOW! Jakarta contributor, Helianti Hilman, leads a curated dining experience that brings Chef Agus Hermawan (Ron Gastrobar Indonesia) and Chef Aaron Lumakeki (Bambu Indah) together with Puan Rimba, a collective of ‘forest women’ (foragers, farmers, keepers of culinary tradition) from Lombok, Kalimantan and Lampung.
This long table lunch will take place in the natural surroundings of Bambu Indah, with a communal table ensconced by garden and canopy, as flavours of the land are celebrated and tasted.
IDR 550,000++ per person
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