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Ischia Safari 2026: Dates, Tickets and What to Expect From the Island's Biggest Food Festival
Around thirty Michelin-starred chefs converge on Lacco Ameno for the tenth edition of Ischia's best-known food festival, 20–22 September 2026.
What is Ischia Safari?
Ischia Safari is the island's flagship food festival, founded by two-Michelin-star chef Nino Di Costanzo (of Danì Maison, in Ischia Ponte) and chef Pasquale Palamaro, together with Giancarlo Carriero of L'Albergo della Regina Isabella and Paolo Fulceri Camerini of the Negombo thermal park. September 2026 marks its tenth edition, and organisers expect more than 350 chefs, pizzaioli, pastry chefs and beverage professionals from Italy and abroad to take part across the three days.
What's the programme for September 20–22?
Sunday 20 September opens with a gala dinner at L'Albergo della Regina Isabella in Lacco Ameno, cooked by a brigade of roughly thirty Michelin-starred chefs. Monday 21 September is the festival's most accessible date for a visitor: "Festa al Negombo", an evening at the Negombo thermal park starting at 7:30pm, with a €100 ticket covering thirty food tastings and five drinks from the participating chefs and producers. Tuesday 22 September closes the festival with "Un dolce per Ischia by Mulino Caputo", a pastry competition among the visiting pastry chefs.
Is it worth planning a September trip around?
Late September is already a good window for Ischia — quieter beaches, warm sea, none of August's crowds — and the Negombo evening is the one date genuinely open to a visitor without an industry connection: a fixed ticket price, a single park to reach, and a chance to taste thirty kitchens in one night. Lacco Ameno sits on the island's north side; from Naples, ferries and fast hydrofoils run to Ischia Porto or Casamicciola from Molo Beverello and Calata Porta di Massa, with Lacco Ameno a short bus or taxi ride on from either port.
Tickets and the full programme are managed through the festival's own site, ticket.ischiasafari.it. First reported by Luciano Pignataro Wine Blog, with details confirmed by Cucine d'Italia and Nuvola TV.
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