Cotacachi, Famous for Leather, Will Host CoffeeFest Ecuador and Crown the Country's Best Cafeterías
Cotacachi, a canton in Ecuador's Imbabura province, has long built its reputation on leather. Artisan workshops and market stalls selling jackets, bags, and boots have defined the town's identity for generations. Now Cotacachi is adding a new line to its résumé: coffee. The town will host CoffeeFest Ecuador 2026, a festival that many observers see as a sign of the region's growing interest in gastronomy tourism alongside its traditional crafts.
The event is set for October 9–11, 2026, at Cotacachi's Parque Ornamental, with free entry for attendees. The centerpiece will be the National Gala of The Best Coffee Shops Ecuador, where the country's top-ranked cafés will be formally recognized.
What Is CoffeeFest Ecuador?
CoffeeFest Ecuador is now in its sixth edition. At its core is the National Gala of The Best Coffee Shops Ecuador, an awards ceremony that has become the festival's signature moment. Beyond the celebration itself, the gala functions as a connective point between Ecuador's local coffee culture and broader regional and global specialty coffee rankings, linking small-town cafés to an international conversation about coffee quality.
How Ecuador's 41 Best Coffee Shops Were Chosen
The path to Cotacachi's gala began months earlier with a nationwide selection process. More than 300 coffee shops across Ecuador reportedly entered the running, according to coverage from Primicias, El Universo, and Ecuavisa. Organizers say the evaluation combined two measures: 70 percent based on expert judges conducting surprise, incognito visits, and 30 percent based on public voting.
The public voting window ran from August 4 to August 18, 2026. Just before that, on August 3, organizers announced the resulting list of 41 coffee shops considered the best in the country — a lineup covered widely by Ecuadorian media, including Expreso, Metro Ecuador, Vistazo, and Teleamazonas.
The Road to South America's Best 100
Making the list of 41 was not the end of the competition. From that group, 30 top-scoring coffee shops advanced toward consideration for the South America's Best 100 Coffee Shops ranking, an international list published by an established specialty coffee ranking platform. In that sense, the Cotacachi gala functions as a regional checkpoint — a local celebration that also feeds into a larger competitive pipeline extending across the continent.
The organizing platform behind these rankings is recognized within specialty coffee circles internationally, which is part of why the Cotacachi event carries weight beyond Ecuador's borders. A recurring point of interest among industry watchers is how emerging coffee markets like Ecuador's continue to gain visibility on these global stages.
Ecuador Already Has Global Standouts
Ecuador's specialty coffee scene has already made a mark internationally. Fankør, based in Quito, was ranked 11th on a global Top 100 specialty coffee shop list, while Mulano, located in Piñas, placed 48th on the same ranking. Many observers note that these placements help explain why an event like CoffeeFest Ecuador — and its Cotacachi gala — is being watched closely, since the country has demonstrable competitive standing rather than purely aspirational ambitions.
What This Means for Cotacachi and Ecuador's Coffee Scene
For a town built around leather craftsmanship, hosting a major coffee and culinary event marks a notable expansion of identity. Whether this signals a lasting shift toward gastronomy tourism or a one-time cultural crossover remains to be seen, but the symbolism is hard to ignore: a canton known for tanning and stitching leather is now, for a few days in October, becoming a stage for coffee culture.
Free entry to the Parque Ornamental venue lowers the barrier for both local residents and visiting tourists to take part. As October approaches, attention will likely turn to how the gala unfolds and what it means for the visibility of Ecuador's specialty coffee industry going forward — particularly as the 30 advancing shops await word on their standing in the South America's Best 100 competition.