Why Saturday is the default pick
Saturday is the day to choose if you can only choose one. It is the only day on which the public gets the whole 10:00 to 19:30 span[1], it carries the Arena Tours, and its Aula de Experimentación programme has a Córdoba olive-oil tasting at 16:00[5] followed by a cheese and wine pairing at 17:00[6]. The festival runs from 12 to 15 November at the CEFC exhibition centre[7]; the World Cheese Awards event page holds the what-and-where, while this plan is about which afternoon to spend there.
Friday is the afternoon option. Public entry starts at 14:00 and the hall shuts at 19:30, which leaves a little over five hours, and the Arena Tours and the Forum are both running[8]. The general ticket does not cover the morning[2], so arriving at opening gets you nothing but a locked door.
Sunday is the short one: 10:00 to 14:00[3], with no Forum and no Arena Tours, though the exhibition, the Aula, the exhibitors and the Cheese Market carry on[9]. It works as a morning of one tasting and some shopping, then lunch in town.
Thursday 12 November is the judges' day: the inauguration, a reception for judges and specialist press, and the proclamation of the world's best cheese of 2026[10]. The public tickets covered below all start on Friday.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday compared
Saturday wins on public hours, on tours plus Forum, and on the two best Aula sessions; Friday is a half-day and Sunday a morning.
| Day | Public hours | Arena Tours and Forum | Aula highlights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 13 Nov | 14:00 to 19:30 | Both run; first English tour at 14:30 | Málaga cheeses 17:00, Granada products 18:00 |
| Sat 14 Nov | 10:00 to 19:30 | Both run; afternoon tour slots 14:15 to 15:30 | Priego olive oil 16:00, wine and cheese pairing 17:00 |
| Sun 15 Nov | 10:00 to 14:00 | Neither | Andalusian cheese tasting 10:00 to 13:00 |
On Friday the afternoon tour slots begin with Tour 10 at 14:15 in Spanish and Tour 11 at 14:30 in English[11], so an English speaker who has booked ahead can be inside the arena half an hour after the doors open. The Aula adds a presentation by the Asociación Quesos de Málaga at 17:00[12] and a Sabor Granada session on Granada products at 18:00[13]. Both are presented by regional bodies, so the early evening is about Andalusian producers.
Saturday has Arena Tour slots in the afternoon too, between 14:15 and 15:30[11], and then stacks the Aula: Córdoba olive oils from DOP Priego de Córdoba at 16:00[5], and at 17:00 the IFAPA session pairing cheeses with Andalusian DOP wines[6]. That last session is the one to plan the day around, because it is a rehearsal for the evening you are about to have anyway.
Sunday's single fixed highlight is Quesandaluz's presentation and tasting of Andalusian cheeses, which runs from 10:00 to 13:00[14]. It is the thinnest programme of the three, and the best argument for Sunday is simply that the Cheese Market is open and the lunch hour is yours.
What the €10 and €20 tickets cover
Buy one ticket, not two. The Arena Tours ticket already includes everything the general ticket does, so it replaces it rather than topping it up.
The organiser sells four tickets:
- General, €10: single-day access[15] with a tasting of a selection of cheeses and entry to the Cheese Market, where 300 cheeses are on sale[16].
- World Cheese Arena Tours, €20: a day ticket that also includes the tasting, the Cheese Market and the exhibition[17], plus an immersive look at how the world's best cheese is chosen[18], in 45-minute slots in Spanish and English that fill by advance online booking[19].
- Professional accreditation, €60: four days, with preferential Cheese Market prices and the Young Cheesemonger final on 12 November[20].
- Forum pass, €80: the III Foro para la Innovación Lactoquesera on 13 and 14 November[21][22].
The Friday rule applies to both visitor tickets. General entry begins at 14:00 on 13 November[2], and so does tour access[23], which is why a Friday morning tour is a trade perk rather than an option for a tourist. The official wording of the tasting is a selection of cheeses, with no stated number of portions, so do not plan lunch around it.
The Aula, the Cheese Market and the free extras
Part of the programme costs nothing once you are inside. The Aula de Experimentación runs tastings and pairings that any visitor can join by registering in person at the organiser's Info Point, until each session is full[26], so go to the desk when you arrive rather than when the hour is near.
The Cheese Market is where the €10 ticket pays for itself[15]. It is a cheese-only market, open to the public, selling cheese-related products from different European regions[27]. Because a ticket allows a single entry, buy last: finish the tasting and the sessions first, then shop on the way out. The programme also lists a Boulevard de Gastronomía Premium every day[9], but do not plan lunch around it until the organiser's page says what it serves.
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Where to eat and drink after the hall
The hall shuts at 19:30 on Friday and Saturday[1], which is early enough to reach the old town while the tapas bars are still warming up. Spain dines late, so treat the festival as the aperitivo and do not book a table for 20:00.
Start at Mercado Victoria, where you can graze across stalls without committing to one kitchen, which suits a post-cheese appetite better than a sit-down menu. For something plainer, Taberna San Miguel pours barrel vermouth and serves pisto manchego with a Montilla-Moriles fino; it is a taberna for regulars, not one built for visitors.
Where to eat · Restaurant
Mercado Victoria
Food market in a 19th-century iron pavilion by Victoria Gardens. Tapas, sushi, oysters, Iberian charcuterie and wine by the glass across twenty-plus stalls.
The wine should be local. Montilla-Moriles fino is dry and saline and sits well beside fresh and young cheeses, oloroso can carry the mature ones, and Pedro Ximénez belongs at the end with anything sweet. I have spent seven years eating through Córdoba's tabernas, and the rule that has never failed is to go dry before sweet, so do not open with the Pedro Ximénez.
Saturday's 17:00 IFAPA session[6] is the cheat sheet. Sit through it, then repeat the pairings at a counter the same evening and see which ones you would have chosen yourself.
Which plan fits which visitor
Choose by what you want from the day, not by the cheapest ticket. Three plans cover almost everyone.
- Saturday, general ticket: arrive at 10:00, register at the Info Point for the 16:00 olive-oil session and the 17:00 pairing, buy cheese on the way out, and be in the old town by 19:30. This is the default for a first visit.
- Friday, Arena Tours ticket: book the 14:30 English slot, then the Málaga and Granada sessions, then dinner. It suits anyone who cares about how the judging works more than about shopping.
- Sunday, general ticket: be at the door at 10:00 for the Quesandaluz tasting, shop, and leave by 14:00 for a long lunch.
Recommended tours
Tours are selected for quality, not commission. We earn a small fee if you book — at no extra cost to you.
Whichever you pick, check the ticket page on internationalcheesefestival.com before paying, because the tickets are non-refundable[4] and times can move. A Sunday visitor leaving at 14:00 is well placed for a long lunch at Bodegas Campos, where Montilla-Moriles wines are the point of the meal.
If November does not fit, the April fair is the spring alternative; QuesArte is a different, smaller event with its own page and dates.