3 wine festivals, harvest celebrations, and food-and-wine events — with dates, tickets, and travel tips.
Festivals worth planning a trip around.
Moldova's biggest annual celebration of its winemaking heritage takes over central Chișinău for two days. Over 70 wineries set up tasting pavilions, with folk music, traditional food, and grape-treading contests. The event highlights Moldova's 5,000-year winemaking tradition and its massive underground cellars at Mileștii Mici and Cricova.
View festival detailsMoldova's National Wine Day — held annually on the first weekend of October in Chișinău's vast Great National Assembly Square — is the biggest wine event in Eastern Europe, gathering 100+ wineries and up to 120,000 visitors over two days. Moldova has one of the world's highest per-capita vineyard areas, and this festival is the moment the country opens its cellars to the world. Wine School masterclasses, qvevri (clay amphora) tastings, and Feteasca Neagra discovery sessions make it unmissable for serious wine explorers.
View festival detailsAll 3 festivals organised by month.
National Wine Day (Ziua Națională a Vinului)
Mileștii Mici's catacombs hold 2 million bottles—book your underground cellar tour weeks ahead as same-day spots vanish instantly. Focus on estate bottlings from smaller producers like Purcari and Cricova's reserve section rather than the commercial pavilion pours; the real discoveries are in the back-road family wineries 20 minutes outside the city.
National Wine Day of Moldova (Ziua Națională a Vinului)
Cricova and Mileștii Mici (the world's largest wine cellar by length) run special underground cellar tours during Wine Day — book these months in advance as they sell out. Moldova is one of Europe's most underrated wine countries and best-value travel destinations.
Vernisajul Vinului (Wine Vernissage)
Seek out the Fetească Neagră masterclass track—it's where local enologists reveal why this indigenous variety punches above its international profile, and small producers pour pre-release samples. Arm yourself with tasting notes on Rară Neagră beforehand; it's criminally underrated and many exhibitors will engage deeply if you show genuine curiosity.