Welcome to Gladmat!

Gladmat is a significant ambassador for food culture and enjoyment all year round and aims to be Norway’s leading meeting place for chefs, food producers and foodies alike.  Welcome to the very best of the best, right on your doorstep! The Gladmat festival has been bringing local food producers, great restaurants and delicious street food together for a quarter of a century. We are thrilled to be able to invite you once again this year to a sold-out festival arena and a city bursting with life!

This year’s theme is “Local”, putting locally produced food firmly centre stage. Gladmat gives us the opportunity to highlight what exactly makes food stand out, and what makes us unique: namely, local ingredients and products. This year, we are proud to have almost 80 local food and drink producers represented. That’s amazing! We will be celebrating not only food, but also diversity in every sense, from different tastes and smells to unique cultures. We will be applauding the very best of produce, the top quality of which is made possible by the tireless contributions of all the talented individuals in the industry.

So, please look forward to the incredible experiences which await you as you eat your way from one superb exhibitor to the next. Enjoy, and try something new!

Kokepunktet («The Boiling Point»)

Our large marquee behind Skur 6 will set the scene for entertainment, inspiration and learning, all provided by our star chefs. What a team, and YOU are invited! Here you will find culinary competitions, our Kitchen Theatre, Kitchen Party and lots of fun for the whole family – from activities for the little ones to children’s culinary courses and entertainment for the teens. With so much going on, do come along!

Have a look at the programme here (in Norwegian only).

A lot of fun – and delicious food!

You will find us not only in Vågen, but also at Malt & Humle at the end of Strandkaien, not to mention soaking up the fantastic atmosphere in Fargegata and some amazing restaurants in Pedersgata.

Everything is marked on the map. If you wish to join an excursion, you can do that too, either taking part in the various Gladmat guided tours in the city centre or further afield in the local countryside.

Gladmat Guided Tours, 2023

Choose between a guided food tour of Pedersgata or a guided drinks tour.

We are continuing our successes of 2020, 2021 and 2022 with our very own Gladmat Tours in collaboration with the hospitality industry and GuideCompaniet. We are delighted to have Stavanger’s bars and restaurants on board, and we look forward to tasting our way around the city!

Various food and drinks tours are scheduled at different times on each day of the festival. It is important that you show up for the specific tour for which you have purchased a ticket at the correct time. All participants will meet at a designated location. You will then be guided from place to place by an expert from GuideCompaniet, who will provide you with some fascinating local historical facts as you are served one delicious culinary delight after another on your chosen tour. 

There is a maximum of 20 persons per tour, and departures will be punctual. Each tour will last for approximately 2 ½ hours. 

What is included:

Gladmat Guided Food Tour: You will visit five restaurants in Pedersgata, in each of which you will be served a tasting dish similar to the Gladmat dishes which proved so popular during our previous festivals. Drinks may be purchased separately at the restaurants. 

Gladmat Guided Drinks Tour: Drinks only are served at these events. The minimum age requirement is 20 years, and all attendees under 25 years of age will be expected to show proof of identity before the start of the tour.

Practical information: 

Any food allergies, as well as vegetarians and vegans, must be registered at the time of ticket purchase.

Meeting place:

Nytorget

Tour Schedules:

Pedersgata Guided Food Tours:

Wednesday, 17.00 hrs. Thursday, 17.00 hrs.  Friday, 16.00 hrs/17.00 hrs/18.00 hrs. Saturday, 17.00 hrs.

Guided Drinks Tours:

Wednesday, 16.00 hrs. Thursday, 16.00 hrs. Friday, 16.00 hrs. Saturday, 16.00 hrs. 

Festival Opening Hours:

Wednesday, 28th. June – Friday, 30th. June: 12 midday – 9 pm

Saturday, 1st. July: 11am – 9pm

Note: Some Market Square stands will close at 6 pm and some will remain open until midnight.

Gladmat has set itself a very ambitious goal: We aim to be Norway’s most eco-friendly food festival! In order to achieve this, we need your help as well as the help of every other individual visiting the festival. Can we count on you?

Use the recycling stations.

This year we have committed to increasing our recycling initiative from 21% to 40%. If we are to succeed, we need your help! Dispose of your waste at one of the 14 recycling stations placed around the festival venues. They are clearly marked, but if in doubt, just ask one of the volunteers for assistance (they will be wearing green Gladmat t-shirts, making them easy to spot!). The festival waste will be transported to IVAR’s recycling plant, so we can be sure that it will be managed in an environmentally sustainable manner. 

Help us to help.

If you see that someone has left a plate or other waste on the kerbside or at the next table, do feel free to help us by disposing of it at the closest recycling station. Thank you!

Take a string bag or rucksack with you from home.
The festival is bursting with delicious items for you to buy and take home. A string bag or a rucksack is a much greener choice than a plastic bag. You can pick up a string bag at the Sparebanken Vest information stand in the Market Square.

Eat up your food.
By eating up your food, you will be helping us to keep our carbon footprint as low as possible. The next best alternative is to recycle any leftovers as food waste at one of the recycling stations. This gives it a new lease of life – as topsoil!

Use public transport or walk wherever possible.By taking the bus or train, or better still, by cycling or walking to the festival, you will already have made a smart, eco-friendly choice before even tasting your first bite of festival food. What’s more, the number of people visiting us over the course of the four-day festival is extremely high, making parking in the city centre a major challenge. The city centre is providing supervised parking for cyclists at Kongsgård School.

Say “Hi! Do you want to come?”
Aiming to be Norway’s most eco-friendly food festival is about more than what we eat or how we dispose of our waste – it’s also about how we work together to find solutions. Why not help to make Gladmat an even more enjoyable festival for even more people: Ask your neighbour if they would like to go with you, say “hi!” to someone you know – you will make a difference, for sure!

If you have any tips on how to make Gladmat more environmentally friendly, we’d love to hear from you at post@gladmat.no.

How to get to Gladmat

The Gladmat festival attracts approximately 250,000 visitors to the heart of Stavanger over the course of four days. Whether you are travelling from another part of the country, from another part of the county or from another area of Stavanger, we have gathered some information for you in this section which we hope will help to make your journey as smooth as possible. 

Cycling to Stavanger

Stavanger is a great city for cycling, with excellent cycle paths and plenty of parking facilities for cyclists. For the duration of the festival Stavanger’s County Council is providing supervised parking for cyclists at Kongsgård. The facility will be open daily from 29th. June until 2nd. July, from 11 am until 9 pm. Cyclists using the facility do so at their own risk and are personally responsible for ensuring that their cycle is properly locked with its own designated lock. 

Travelling by train to Stavanger

Stavanger’s train station is located in the heart of the city centre. Go Ahead offers several daily services on Sørtorget from Kristiansand and Oslo, whilst Jærbanen will transport you swiftly from Egersund, Jæren or Sandnes to Stavanger. 

Travelling by bus to Stavanger

Buses travelling to Stavanger from out of town generally make their final stop at the town’s bus and train terminal at Breiavatnet, conveniently located just a short five-minute walk away from the festival venue in the heart of Stavanger. Check the various bus companies’ timetables for further information on departure times.

Travelling by plane to Stavanger

Stavanger Airport, Sola, is an international airport offering domestic and international departures daily. The airport is approximately a 20-minute drive from Stavanger city centre and is served by both airport buses and the local bus network.

Travelling by car or by motorcycle to Stavanger

During the Gladmat festival most of the city centre car parks tend to fill up quickly early in the day. If you are travelling by car, we recommend that you find a parking spot just outside of the centre and complete the last part of your journey either on foot, on a rental cycle or by bus. The most central parking facilities for motorcycles are located in the festival area and will not normally be available for use during festivals.

Travelling by boat to Stavanger

In cooperation with Stavangerregionen Havn IKS, we are delighted to be able to welcome small boats to the guest harbour daily from 11 am until 7 pm during the festival.

Places to stay

Stavanger offers a wealth of accommodation options to suit every budget. We would like to take this opportunity to recommend our partner hotels: Clarion Collection Hotel Skagen Brygge, Clarion Hotel Stavanger and Hotel Victoria.