SIAL Paris 2026

SIAL by the numbers

Every figure links to where it came from. Attendance for an event that has not happened is a projection, and each row says so rather than presenting it as a count.

• Dates17 to 21 Oct

  Official SIAL Paris site. Visitor registration open. Paris Nord Villepinte. SIAL Paris

• CadenceBiennial

  SIAL Paris and Anuga Cologne alternate years. Anuga's next edition is 9 to 13 October 2027 in Cologne. They are the two poles of the global food-trade calendar, not competitors in the same week. Anuga / SIAL trade calendar

What is SIAL?

SIAL Paris is the large biennial food exhibition at Paris Nord Villepinte. The 2026 dates are 17 to 21 October. It is a trade fair for producers, distributors, importers and foodservice, not a consumer festival. Anuga in Cologne takes the opposite year. If you work food export into Europe, this is one of the two weeks that actually matter.

Who goes to SIAL?

Buyers from retail and foodservice, national pavilions, ingredient companies and the distributors who stand between them. Founders selling a CPG brand into Europe use it as a week of meetings, not as a launch party. If you need US grocery, NRF in January is the closer room. If you need GCC food buyers, that is Gulfood in Dubai.

SIAL side events

SIAL runs SIAL Innovation, SIAL for Change and a jobs programme inside the halls. National pavilions host their own tastings and dinners. Search SIAL Paris side event and you will find importer receptions that are not on the official site. Aspire does not run those nights.

SIAL tickets and costs

Visitor registration is on sialparis.com. It is a trade show: you register as a professional, not as a tourist. Confirm the live badge price on the official ticket page. Villepinte is north-east of Paris, on the RER B, not in the centre. Stay near Gare du Nord or at a Villepinte hotel if you want to skip the daily RER. October in Paris is jacket weather.

• Visitor badgeSee sialparis.com

  Trade visitor registration is open on the official site. Confirm the live price there. This is not a public festival ticket. SIAL Paris

Getting to Paris Nord Villepinte

Paris Nord Villepinte is on RER B, about 30 minutes from Gare du Nord. CDG airport is on the same line in the other direction, which is the one useful thing about this venue. A taxi from central Paris at peak is a poor idea.

Where to stay for SIAL

Gare du Nord, Saint-Denis or a hotel at Villepinte itself. A Left Bank hotel looks nicer and costs you an hour each way on the RER. Five days of that is the show.

What to know before booking SIAL

SIAL and Anuga split the world. Booking both in consecutive years is the standard for serious exporters. Booking neither and expecting a LinkedIn DM to replace the floor is how people stay unknown to European buyers.

SIAL: common questions