Salon du Chocolat (Paris Chocolate Fair): Dates, Tickets & Venue (Paris)

What the fair actually is

Salon du Chocolat is not a single tasting room; it’s an exhibition-hall-sized trade fair that opens to the public. Hundreds of chocolatiers, from small French artisans to international producers, set up stands to sell, sample and demonstrate. Alongside the commercial stands there are chocolate sculpture displays, cooking demonstrations, and a programme of ticketed workshops for both adults and children.

It began in Paris in the 1990s and has since spread to other cities worldwide, but the Paris edition remains the original and the largest. The 2026 edition was set for October 28 through November 1 at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles.

Finding your way to Porte de Versailles

The venue sits in the 15th arrondissement, at the southwestern edge of the city, and is built specifically for large trade fairs, so it’s used to handling crowds.

• Métro: Line 12, Porte de Versailles station, exits directly onto the exhibition center
• Tram: T3a, Porte de Versailles stop
• Bus: several lines terminate nearby, including the 39 and 80

Driving in is possible, and the complex has its own paid parking structures, but they fill fast on weekend afternoons; the métro is the simpler route for a first visit.

The chocolate runway, this fair’s signature moment

Most trade fairs don’t have a catwalk. Salon du Chocolat does. Its “défilé en chocolat” is a fashion show where models wear garments made partly or entirely of chocolate, designed by chocolatiers and fashion houses together. It’s the single most photographed moment of the week and usually draws the thickest crowds of any scheduled event inside the halls. When the runway is on the programme, it has its own time slot, separate from general admission hours, and is not automatically included with a standard ticket.

Tastings, sculptures and workshops

Inside the halls, the format repeats across sections: a chocolatier’s stand, small tasting samples offered to passers-by, and full bars or boxes for sale to take home. Sculpture displays, ranging from statues to architectural set-pieces built entirely from tempered chocolate, are staged as photo points between the commercial aisles.

Workshops were sold on a separate booking track from general entry. Past editions have included:

• Pastry and chocolate-making classes for adults
• Family and children’s sessions, often shorter and simpler
• Guided tastings led by chocolatiers explaining origin and cacao percentage

Workshop slots are limited and tend to book out before general admission tickets do.

Picking your day

The 2026 fair was planned as five days, and the feel of the fair changes a lot from one day to the next. Weekday mornings typically draw fewer families and more trade visitors and serious chocolate buyers. Weekends, especially the Saturday and the final Sunday, pull in the biggest general-public crowds, partly because the runway show and headline demonstrations are often scheduled then.

Weekday slots suit tasting and talking to chocolatiers without fighting through the aisles. Weekends suit the runway show and the overall spectacle, at the cost of elbow room.

Getting the most from the stands

The venue is arranged in aisles by exhibitor.

• Bags. Purchased bars, truffle boxes and sometimes fragile sculptures pile up quickly, and the fair doesn’t hand out sturdy bags at every stand.
• Tastings. Samples are small, but stacked across dozens of stands they add up; moving through by chocolate style (dark, praline, single-origin) keeps the palate fresher for longer.
• Payment. Card and cash both work at most stands, though smaller independent producers sometimes set card minimums or prefer cash for small purchases, as at most French markets.
• The makers. Many chocolatiers staff their own stands and are happy to explain sourcing and technique; it’s one of the few fairs where the person behind the counter often made what’s being tasted.

Halls, hours and bookings

Paris Expo Porte de Versailles hosts back-to-back trade fairs throughout the year, so the hall number, opening hours and entry requirements differ from event to event and from year to year. At this fair, the runway show schedule and workshop bookings move faster than general admission.