Southern Germany's most prominent culinary fair
Plaza Culinaria - Update
Messe Freiburg will serve as the hosting venue for the 2023 rendition of Plaza Culinaria. The trade fair will take place as a live exhibition between 10.11.2023 and 12.11.2023. The host site will not feature the latest coronavirus safety measures. This is due to Germany lifting its pandemic-related restrictions, including the travel limitations.
Introduction
Plaza Culinaria is part festival, which celebrates fine dining and high-end foods, and also a retail platform aimed restaurants and bars as well as home cooks and family households. It’s a relaxed and inviting atmosphere with lots to discover and a lot to stimulate the visitors’ senses.
Exhibitors are able to come face to face with their target audience and bigger buyers at the same time. It’s all of this that has transformed Plaza Culinaria into the most important culinary experience and sales fair in southern Germany. A tittle, which is proudly worn. The very first fair occurred sixteen years ago back in 2004 and Plaza Culinaria has not stopped growing or attracting new visitors from all over Germany.
In terms of products, visitors can discover anything and everything they want – jams, ciders, breweries, champagne, catering services, coffee, assorted cheeses, charcuterie, knives and other accessories, decoration, cigars, kitchen equipment, tea, wine, tableware, cooking books and more.
Logistics
Plaza Culinaria has been running out Messe Freiburg every single year since the early 2000s in the middle of November. The international food fair opens its door wide to the general public for three days in total, where they’re able to experience the full breadth of culinary treats.
Opening day starts at 14:00 pm and ends at 23:00 pm. The second and third days start at 10:00 am in the morning and have the following closing times – 23:00 pm at night and 20:00 pm in the evening. Plaza Culinaria is a joined project between FWTM (Freiburg Wirtschaft Touristik und Messe) and Messe Freiburg. Messe Freiburg is well connected to public transport as there is a tram line (4) that services the exhibition centre and you also have the Breisgau – S-Bahn from both the main train station or from Kaiserstuhl station. You always have access to regular and quick city transportation.
What Are People Saying
- “The Plaza Culinaria is the ideal platform to present a pleasure award. Here are the right guests, one professional trade fair team and thus the best conditions for a pleasure award with this format,” says Hansjörg Mair, managing director of Black Forest Tourism;
- “With the innovative, new concepts of the Food Rockerz on the one hand and the familiar cornerstones like the cooking shows on the other, Plaza Culinaria is ready once again to meet its guests in the best way possible,” says Daniel Strowitzki, managing director of the FWTM;
- “We’re very small. We have only a few tables and seats so it’s excellent for us to be able to represent our brand. I’m here today, because I have two cooking demonstrations and the audience has been very receptive and open. The atmosphere here is so welcoming. There are all these delicious smells wafting in from every corner,” says star chef Maria Groß.
Audience & Statistics
As with most food fairs, Plaza Culinaria delivers a continuous foot traffic through all three of its days and in this case the number exceeds 43,000 visitors total. That’s definitely good news for the 360 exhibitors who reserve a stand for the food fair, because they’re able to generate direct sales, advertise and release new products.
Plaza Culinaria boosts exhibitors’ profiles, most of which are local to the city and the region and can use a marketing push every once in a while. The audience is comprised mostly of the general public, families with children and foodies, alongside buyers form the bar and restaurant sector. Geographically, visitors come from Southern Germany, Alsace and Northern Switzerland.
Accommodation
It’s common for Freiburg to fill up with out-of-towners for Plaza Culinaria, so interest in affordable hotels during the fair is significant. Rather than spend all your time and resources in securing your online hotel booking for Plaza Culinaria, leave the research to us. Trade Fair Trips ltd curates a list with suitable hotel rates for your budget and works towards your overall convenience.
Book hotels close to Messe Freiburg with ease and keep travel expenses to a minimum. It’s that simple to organise your business trip and what’s more – we service every price point from budget to lux. Trade Fair Trips ltd expands on your travel experience at Plaza Culinaria with additional services like reservations for meeting facilities in advance. Clients also come to us to build their fair stands. We do this and so much more at prices you can trust.
Previous Edition Reports
2021 Rendition
Plaza Culinaria 2021 took place as a live trade fair under strict 3G conditions. This included the around 20,000 participants that attended having to maintain a social distance of 1.5 metres. They also had to show before entry documents such as negative test results.
On foot:
Not advisable when travelling from Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg Airport
30 mins when travelling from Freiburg Hauptbahnhof (Central Station)
By car:
50 mins when travelling from Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg Airport
6 mins when travelling from Freiburg Hauptbahnhof (Central Station)
By public transport:
Not advisable when travelling from Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg Airport
12 mins when travelling from Freiburg Hauptbahnhof (Central Station)

Hotels near Plaza Culinaria
Hotel | Stars | Distance to fair | City | Price | ||
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JFM Hotel Lorrach bei Basel | Lorrach | on request | Request | ||
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Colmar Hotel | Colmar | on request | Request | ||
Dorint An den Thermen Freiburg | Freiburg | on request | Request | |||
Hotel Ganita | Weil am Rhein | on request | Request | |||
Hotel Bristol | Mulhouse | on request | Request | |||
BASE1 Hotel Grenzblick | Lorrach | on request | Request | |||
Ibis Mulhouse Centre Ville | Mulhouse | on request | Request | |||
Hotel Oberkirch | 3.1 | Freiburg | on request | Request | ||
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Premiere Classe Colmar Nord - Houssen | Colmar | on request | Request | ||
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Mercure Hotel Freiburg am Munster | 3 | Freiburg | on request | Request |