Arctic Forum 2025 to host ‘Taste of the Arctic’ gastronomic festival

 ‘Taste of the Arctic’ gastronomic festival will be held in Murmansk on 25–30 March. It is included in the cultural programme of the ‘Arctic: Territory of Dialogue’ International Arctic Forum, which will be held on 26–27 March under the motto ‘To Live in the North!’. The Forum is organized by the Roscongress Foundation with the support of the Russian Government.

A joint team of restaurateurs and chefs from the Arctic regions of the Russian Federation will present a menu of regional authentic cuisine using food from the northern seas and local producers. 

“This festival will be special, as we are expanding the geography of participants in the gastronomic space. Entrepreneurs from Murmansk and Arkhangelsk Regions, Nenets Autonomous District, Komi Republic, the Republic of Karelia, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District, and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) have already confirmed their participation. The festival menu will include both favourite items with ‘hits’ of Arctic cuisine festivals and absolute novelties,” noted Svetlana Panfilova, Deputy Governor and Minister of Arctic Development and Economy of Murmansk Region. 

The gastronomic festival will be attended by about 15 catering companies from the regions of the Arctic zone, in addition, a fair of souvenirs of Murmansk Region and Taste the North’ ice bar ‘will be opened. 

“The Murmansk region gave Russia such a trend as Arctic cuisine. We have gone from complete obscurity to commercial success, thanks to strong information support involving local businesses and authorities,” said Ekaterina Shapovalova, author, methodologist and head of the ‘Gastronomic Map of Russia’ federal project; curator of the ‘Taste of the Arctic’ gastronomic festival. 

The Murmansk Region Tourist Information Centre office will be open during the festival, where residents and guests of the city will be able to learn about popular tourist programmes and purchase polar explorer passports. The Arctic Post Office will be organized at the festival, where everyone will be able to send their loved ones exclusive memorable postcards.

Entertainment and music programmes and prize drawings await the festival guests. On 25 March the venue in Ulitsa Vorovskogo will be open from 15:00 to 21:00, and on 26–30 March from 11:00 to 21:00.

The festival is organized by the Government of Murmansk Region together with the ‘Gastronomic Map of Russia’ federal project. The project coordinator is ANO Sobytie51.

The ‘Taste of the Arctic’ gastronomic festival has been held since 2018. The event is organized in the ‘One–Hand–Food’ format and is aimed at drawing attention to local cuisine, food products of regional producers and wild crops of the Polar Region.

Every year, the festival receives awards at the federal level, including the Grand Prix of the National Public Relations Award ‘Silver Archer’ – North-West (2023), Grand Prix of the National Award in the field of event tourism Russian Event Awards (2022), TOP-17 best summer gastronomic events (2022), and many others.

The 6th ‘Arctic: Territory of Dialogue’ International Arctic Forum is a key platform for discussing important issues of socio-economic development of the Arctic territories, elaboration of multilateral mechanisms for joint disclosure and effective development of the powerful resource potential of the Arctic region. 

More information is available on the official Forum website forumarctica.ru.