London Coffee Festival

What is the London Coffee Festival?

The London Coffee Festival brings coffee businesses and coffee drinkers into the same event, but gives them different reasons to attend. A home brewer might want to discover a roaster or watch milk-pouring demonstrations; a café operator might want to meet suppliers, investigate equipment or attend business discussions.

Its programme combines exhibition stands with demonstrations, tasting opportunities and staged entertainment. Coffee is the centre of the event, but the organiser also includes food, cocktails, music and other hospitality products.

For a beginner, the simplest approach is to choose a public day and arrive with one question: which coffee do I enjoy, how can I improve my brewing, or what does a particular piece of equipment actually do? There is no need to understand competition rules before watching a demonstration.

Our coffee events guide explains the wider choice of events. London’s particular appeal is its combination of consumer discovery and professional networking, rather than an exclusively trade-focused exhibition.

London Coffee Festival dates and venue

The organiser currently announces 13 to 16 May 2027, not 14 to 17 May 2027. That distinction matters when comparing older listings or making travel arrangements.

The announced split is:

The venue remains The Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London. The organiser’s principal visitor address is F Block G1, Ely’s Yard, London E1 6QR. Its travel information also refers to an entrance at 15 Hanbury Street, so follow the instructions issued with your ticket rather than relying solely on a general brewery postcode.

Nearby stations listed by the organiser include Shoreditch High Street, Liverpool Street and Aldgate East. Check your journey separately once you know your admission session.

The official accessibility page identifies a step-free entrance in Ely’s Yard and a lift serving the festival floors. Contact the organiser before booking if you need confirmation about a particular route, assistance or access requirement.

Opening hours need a separate check. The visitor page currently labels its detailed session times as belonging to 2026. They should not be treated as confirmed opening hours for 2027.

A short history of the festival

The London Coffee Festival launched in 2011, initially reflecting London’s emerging specialty coffee scene. Its roots are in Allegra’s coffee events business, bringing independent roasters and established companies together.

The organiser describes an evolution from that early focus into a broader coffee and hospitality event. Today’s format retains specialist roasters and barista skills while also providing space for equipment businesses, suppliers and larger brands.

Key verified milestones are:

• 2011: the festival launches.
• 2022: William Reed acquires The London Coffee Festival from Allegra.
• 15 to 18 May 2025: the festival takes place at The Truman Brewery.
• 14 to 17 May 2026: the following edition runs across two industry days and a public weekend.
• 28 September 2026: the organiser announces The Green Room, a new feature planned for 2027.
• 13 to 16 May 2027: the next announced edition.

Older descriptions naming Allegra as the organiser therefore need historical context. Allegra created the event, but William Reed subsequently acquired it. That is a change of ownership, not a different festival.

What to expect inside

The established programme provides a useful guide to the experience, but it is not a guarantee that every previous exhibitor, workshop or timetable will return. As checked in November 2026, the organiser says the full exhibitor list will launch in early 2027.

Roaster tastings and coffee conversations

The Roasters Village is a focal point for discovering coffee businesses and trying their coffees. Other exhibition stands provide opportunities to explore products and equipment.

For a useful tasting conversation, ask what the coffee is, how it was processed and which brewing method the roaster recommends. Explain what you already drink rather than trying to guess the “correct” tasting note.

If something appeals, record the coffee’s name and the exhibitor’s details immediately. A note such as “sweet, cocoa-like finish, enjoyed without milk” is more useful afterwards than a long list of stand names.

Latte Art Live

Latte Art Live centres on the skill of pouring patterns with textured milk. The published programme includes demonstrations, showcases, hands-on workshops and “throwdowns”, informal head-to-head contests.

Watch the sequence rather than only the finished pattern. If you are learning, ask the demonstrator which part of the movement to practise first and what mistake they see most often.

Coffee Masters

Coffee Masters is the festival’s prominent live barista tournament. The organiser describes a fast-paced knockout format involving 16 contenders and a range of coffee skills.

The published disciplines cover tasting, brewing, latte art, order preparation and signature drinks, with espresso blending appearing in the later stages. In the tasting task, competitors must recognise and reconstruct a shuffled sequence of coffees.

This makes the competition worth watching even if you do not follow professional baristas. Pick one round and listen to its explanation before trying to judge the performance yourself.

Talks, demonstrations and brewing sessions

The Lab hosts coffee-industry talks and debates, alongside educational activity elsewhere in the festival. Brew School has been presented as a bookable, guided brewing experience.

Treat “included admission” and “a reserved workshop place” as separate questions. Check whether an activity requires an additional booking, has limited capacity or runs only during a particular session.

For more on choosing events around learning and tasting rather than business meetings, see specialty coffee festivals.

Trade days, public days and tickets

Thursday and Friday are the announced industry days for 2027, followed by the public weekend. The organiser describes an industry-specific programme alongside features that run across the festival.

Choose the trade route if your purpose is professional and you meet its admission criteria. A coffee enthusiast visiting for personal interest should use the public ticket route, rather than assuming that enthusiasm alone qualifies as trade accreditation.

As checked in November 2026, 2027 tickets are not yet on sale. The official website offers a mailing list for ticket announcements. It also says applications for industry accreditation will open in 2027, with different arrangements for suppliers and distributors.

When booking opens, check:

• The year, date and admission session.
• Whether the ticket covers a timed session or a whole day.
• Which experiences are included and which require reservations.
• The applicable admission, exchange and refund terms.

Do not carry forward ticket names or inclusions from an earlier edition. The organiser’s current description promises coffee and food samples, tastings, demonstrations and competitions, but directs visitors to the individual ticket description for the precise entitlement.

If your priority is meeting suppliers, our guide to coffee trade shows helps distinguish that objective from a general festival visit.

How to make the visit useful

A little preparation gives the day a purpose without turning it into an exercise in scheduling. Use this short plan once the current programme is published.

1. Choose one main aim. Make it specific: find a coffee for home, understand a brewing method, investigate equipment or meet potential suppliers.
2. Identify a few priority stops. Select relevant exhibitors and one scheduled demonstration or talk. Leave space between them for conversations.
3. Check reservations before arrival. Confirm whether your preferred workshop requires booking and whether it falls inside your admission session.
4. Keep comparable notes. Record the coffee or equipment, what you liked, what you asked and what needs following up.
5. Review afterwards. Turn your notes into a shortlist or a practice plan, rather than collecting contacts without a next step.

For a workplace equipment enquiry, prepare a separate question sheet. Ask about the intended daily workload, drink menu, milk handling, cleaning, water treatment, installation requirements and servicing arrangements.

Request itemised written quotations after the event. Ask suppliers to distinguish the machine, installation, consumables, maintenance and ongoing contractual commitments. A stand conversation is a useful introduction, not a substitute for a written specification.

For tasting, you need not finish every sample offered. Choose deliberately and leave room in the visit for watching, asking questions and taking breaks.

What experienced visitors should look for in 2027

The most significant announced addition is The Green Room, a new festival destination within The Truman Brewery, focused on coffee’s journey before it reaches the brewer.

The organiser says it is intended to bring together producing countries, producer groups, importers, exporters, green coffee traders, roasters and sustainability organisations. Green coffee means coffee beans before roasting.

For an experienced visitor, this suggests a reason to look beyond finished drinks and café equipment. Prepare questions about where a coffee comes from, who supplied it and what information supports its sourcing story. The announced purpose is clear, but participating organisations and the detailed programme still need checking when published.

Charity connections also deserve accurate attribution. Project Waterfall has a documented fundraising relationship with the festival, including raffles in 2025 supporting its work on water, sanitation and education in coffee-growing communities.

However, it should not simply be described as the festival’s sole current charity partner. Farm Africa separately identified itself as a festival charity partner in 2025, and the festival’s visitor information also describes its work.

For the London Coffee Festival, the useful distinction is between an announced programme, a previous edition’s activity and a claim demonstrated by evidence. Keep those separate when planning your visit or evaluating what an exhibitor tells you.