The Michelin Guide Food Festival Shenzhen 2026 opened September 25 at The MixC Street in Luohu District’s The MixC shopping mall, bringing together 12 Michelin-starred and Michelin-selected restaurants from Guangzhou and Shenzhen. File photo

The Michelin Guide Food Festival Shenzhen 2026 opened September 25 at The MixC Street in Luohu District’s The MixC shopping mall, bringing together 12 Michelin-starred and Michelin-selected restaurants from Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Preliminary figures show that about 13,000 people attended on the opening day, up approximately 19 percent from the first day of the 2025 festival. The event also drew around 232,000 visitors to the surrounding Caiwuwei commercial area, a year-on-year increase of about 16 percent.

Held after the release of the Michelin Guide Guangzhou | Shenzhen 2026, the three-day festival brought dishes from fine-dining kitchens to an open-air setting. Restaurants are serving smaller portions of signature dishes, giving visitors a chance to sample Michelin-recognized cuisine without the cost of a full fine-dining experience. Some chefs are also preparing dishes onsite and sharing their ideas with diners.

The lineup includes two-Michelin-starred restaurants Yun Jing and The Bay by Chef Fei, one-star restaurants Chao Shang Chao, Xin Rong Ji, Opus 388, Wisca (Haizhu), Yu Garden and Song and Michelin-selected restaurants Gem Garden, La Tablée, La Lune and China Lodge.

Visitors enjoyed the food in rest areas surrounded by greenery and art installations. A large moon installation marked the Mid-Autumn Festival, which fell on Sept. 25 this year. Light displays and performances also brought together traditional Chinese dance, folk music and Western orchestral music. A special performance of the dance drama Wing Chun combined intangible cultural heritage with digital art and lighting effects.

The festival ended September 27, and visitors entered by queuing without a reservation. After the event, the main installation will be moved to The MixC’s north plaza as a permanent public artwork. The festival aims to make Michelin-recognized food and global culinary culture more accessible to the public.

Two foreign visitors pose for a photo with their purchased food at the festival. File photo