Wild Food Festival 2026: From Wild Foods to Better Futures
Now in its eighth edition, the Wild Food Festival is a celebration of wild and foraged foods intrinsic to the forests and fields of the Western Ghats in India. Conceived by OOO Farms and held in collaboration with The Locavore and Bunts Sangha’s Ramanath Payyade College of Hospitality Management Studies (RPH), the festival brings together tribal farmers, foragers, community knowledge-holders, cooks, chefs, hospitality students, researchers, and the wider public.
At the heart of the festival are wild and foraged foods that appear briefly during the monsoon: greens, shoots, tubers, fruits, flowers, herbs, and other forest produce that require deep knowledge to identify, harvest, prepare, and cook. For the communities well-versed with these foods, they are part of intergenerational knowledge: when they appear, where they grow, which parts are edible, how they must be cooked, and what role they play in local food cultures. The Wild Food Festival creates a space for urban audiences to engage with this knowledge through tasting, displays, conversations, community presence, student learning, and a shared meal.
Displays of seeds are contextualised through panel conversations on matters of biodiversity, access to wild foods, the impact of the climate crisis on foraging, and how to cook with wild foods. This year’s edition will also feature The Locavore Corner, bringing together our partner producers’ delicious offerings into an experiential zone.
The Wild Food Festival is much more than a celebration of rare or seasonal foods. It is a bridge between tribal communities and urban audiences, between forests and institutions, between traditional knowledge and future-facing conversations around food.
Theme: From Wild Foods to Better Futures
Date: Sunday, 23 August 2026
Time: 2:00 PM–9:00 PM
Location: Bunts Sangha’s Ramanath Payyade College of Hospitality Management Studies (RPH), Kurla, Mumbai
What you can expect at the festival
Extensive Displays of Wild Foods and Native Seed
Each year, curated displays allow attendees to thoughtfully engage with the produce. Photos by Team Locavore.
Explore a display of more than 120 wild foods like Kharshinga, Bafli, Takla and more from Maharashtra, and 200-plus native seed varietals including rice, millets, pulses, and cotton from OOO Farms’ community seed bank, offering a first-hand glimpse into the remarkable variety of edible biodiversity that surrounds us.
Guided Wild Food Tasting Journey
Sample dishes featuring wild foods prepared by members of tribal communities: Kokni, Warli, Thaler, Mahadeo Koli, Katkari and Bhil. Photos by Team Locavore .
Move through a structured tasting experience that introduces you to the diversity of wild and forest-linked foods emerging during the monsoon.
Expect small portions, guided interpretation, and preparations that help you understand the flavours, textures, seasonality, and knowledge behind these ingredients.
Wild Food High Tea prepared by Culinary Students
Through a series of workshops and training sessions with students from Bunts Sangha’s Ramanath Payyade College of Hospitality Management Studies (RPH), we are also exploring wild foods through hands-on learning sessions and collaborations. Photos by Team Locavore.
Students from Bunts Sangha’s Ramanath Payyade College of Hospitality Management Studies (RPH) will create and present a wild food-inspired High Tea as part of this year’s festival, guided by RPH faculty and OOO Farms, along with culinary mentorship from ChefTZac. Photos by Team Locavore.
In the weeks leading up to the event, students will learn about wild ingredients, seasonality, biodiversity, and culinary context before developing their own responses to these ingredients.
The High Tea offers a glimpse into how future hospitality professionals can engage more thoughtfully with local ingredients, living knowledge systems, and the food cultures of the Western Ghats.
Thought-Provoking Sessions
Hear from conservationists, anthropologists, scientists, chefs, practitioners, and community members through conversations on wild foods, biodiversity, the climate crisis, foraging, seed systems, access, and the role of chefs and institutions in supporting more responsible food futures. The conversations will connect what visitors taste and see at the festival to larger questions around ecology, culture, public action, and community knowledge.
Community-led Wild Foods Dinner
The festival presented an extensive showcase of nearly 200 wild leafy vegetables, grains, and fruits from the Sahyadri mountains, alongside a display of OOO Farms’ community seed bank. Together, they highlighted the ecological diversity of the region and offered a first-hand glimpse into the remarkable variety of wild foods that surround us. Detailed description cards accompanied each display, noting the local and scientific names, edible parts, and medicinal uses—transforming it into an interactive learning space for attendees.
The Locavore Corner
New to the 2026 edition, The Locavore Corner brings together selected parts of The Locavore’s work in one experiential zone. Explore products from our partner producers, get first access to our newly-published Mumbai Koli Project book, take part in interactive games with prizes, and find ways to stay connected beyond the festival.
Before the Festival: Taste Wild Foods across Mumbai!
How the Day Unfolds
2:00 PM: Gates Open
Arrive, settle in, and explore the farmers’ market, wild food displays, native seed displays, The Locavore Corner, and other festival experiences.
3:00–5:00 PM: Guided Wild Food Tasting Journey + RPH Wild Food High Tea
Move through the main sensory experience of the festival. Taste. Ask questions. Pay attention.
5:30–7:30 PM: Public Conversations, Community Recognition, and Cultural Programming
Come together around the larger questions behind the food: biodiversity, conservation, climate resilience, community knowledge, and what the future asks of us.
7:30–9:00 PM: Community-led Wild Foods Dinner
The festival closes with a shared meal prepared primarily by tribal cooks and OOO Farms.
Book your ticket now.
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