Another Coffee Festival is exactly the kind of event the coffee industry needs

Coffee has always been about community.

Long before specialty coffee had trade shows, competitions and certifications, people gathered around coffee because they enjoyed being together. Coffee was the excuse.

Somewhere along the way, though, we lost sight of that.

We became very good at building community for ourselves. We created world-class trade shows. Built prestigious competitions. Organised industry conferences, producer forums and professional networking events.

All of those things have their place. I’ve attended many of them, and our industry is better because they exist.

But while we were building community for people who work in coffee, we largely forgot about the people who simply love coffee.

Home baristas were left to pick up the scraps. A public cupping at a local roastery every now and then.

Which is a shame.

Someone who spends months saving for an espresso machine, experiments with brewing recipes every weekend, watches coffee videos for fun and can happily spend an hour talking about grinders. Those people are every bit as much a part of specialty coffee as the professionals.

That’s why I created The Home Barista Show. A place where home brewers could meet one another, discover new coffees, learn from professionals and feel like they belonged.

Since then, we’ve hosted Home Barista Show events in Dubai, Sharjah, Johannesburg and Cape Town. Selling out those events is proof of huge appetite enthusiasts have to be seen.

So when I came across Another Coffee Festival in Singapore, I immediately wanted to know more.

The festival was founded by Leon Foo of MORNING and Will Leow of Alchemist. Two founders on a mission to create a different kind of coffee event. One centred on curiosity, culture and community.

I reached out to Leon and Will for a conversation.

Here’s the interview.

How would you describe the state of specialty coffee in Singapore today? Where do you think there is still room for it to grow?

Singapore’s specialty coffee scene has reached a level of maturity that is quite remarkable for a city of our size. We have internationally recognised roasters and baristas, increasingly knowledgeable consumers and a strong culture of independent cafés. The overall standard of coffee has risen tremendously over the past decade.

The next stage of growth, however, should not only be about producing better coffee. It should be about making specialty coffee more accessible and culturally relevant to a wider audience. There is still room to remove some of the intimidation around specialty coffee, create more opportunities for collaboration and help consumers understand the people, origins and ideas behind what they are drinking.

Singapore can also play a larger regional role. Given our position between many of Asia’s producing and consuming markets, we have the potential to become a meaningful meeting point for coffee cultures from across the region.

Do the traditional specialty coffee trade shows and competitions still play the role they should?

Trade shows and competitions remain important. They provide professional benchmarks, recognise excellence and allow the industry to exchange knowledge and technology. Many careers and businesses have benefited from these platforms.

However, they are often built primarily for people already working within the industry. That can make them feel technical or inaccessible to the wider public.

We saw an opportunity for a different type of gathering, one that does not replace trade shows or competitions, but complements them. Another Coffee Festival is designed around discovery, culture and human connection. It allows professionals and everyday coffee drinkers to share the same space without requiring everyone to speak the technical language of coffee.

The best specialty coffee shops in Singapore

What inspired Another Coffee Festival?

The concept emerged from our travels to coffee events globally, where we often wondered why some felt genuinely transformative and memorable, while others felt purely transactional.

The events that stayed with us were not necessarily the largest. They were the ones where the city, its creative community and its coffee culture all came together. You could discover a roaster, meet the person behind it, experience something new and leave feeling connected to a broader community.

Singapore already had the talent, businesses and audience required for such an event. What we felt was missing was an independent platform that presented coffee not only as a product or profession, but as a cultural, creative and social experience.

That observation became the starting point for Another Coffee Festival: not simply another trade show, but another way of experiencing coffee.

Tell us about the team.

Another Coffee Festival was founded by people with complementary backgrounds and a shared belief that Singapore’s coffee community deserved a different kind of platform.

Leon: I have spent more than a decade building businesses within specialty coffee, first through PPP Coffee and subsequently through MORNING. My perspective comes from working across roasting, hospitality, technology, retail and international markets. I have also attended many coffee festivals and trade events globally, which shaped my thinking about what makes an event commercially sustainable while still feeling authentic.

What makes the partnership work is that we do not approach the festival solely as coffee operators. We look at it through the lenses of community, hospitality, design, culture and experience. That combination has helped us build something that remains rooted in coffee while being welcoming to people beyond the industry.

For someone considering buying a ticket, what can they actually expect throughout the day?

Entry to Another Coffee Festival is free. To get the most out of the experience, visitors can purchase a festival bundle, which includes a custom Tasting Cup and tokens, or simply bring their own cup and purchase tokens à la carte.

Each token can be exchanged for a 70-80ml tasting portion. Rather than committing to a full drink at every booth, visitors can taste their way through the festival and experience a much broader range of coffees.

The 2026 festival brings together 19 Singapore-based roasters and 15 international roasters, offering visitors the opportunity to explore different origins, roasting philosophies and coffee cultures in one place. The festival will take place at Guoco Tower Urban Park from 3 to 6 September 2026.

What I am most excited about are the unscripted moments: discovering a roaster you have never encountered, tasting something that challenges your assumptions, or beginning a conversation with the person who sourced or roasted the coffee in your cup. We want the experience to feel exploratory rather than overly programmed.

If someone walks through the doors knowing nothing about specialty coffee, what journey do you hope they’ll go on?

We hope they begin simply by following their curiosity.

They may initially choose coffees based on a familiar flavour, an interesting name or a roaster whose booth catches their attention. As they move through the festival, they might begin noticing how coffees from different origins taste, how processing and roasting influence flavour, or why each roaster approaches the same ingredient differently.

However, we do not want the experience to feel like a lesson or examination. Specialty coffee can sometimes be presented in a way that makes newcomers feel they need technical knowledge before they are entitled to have an opinion. We want to eliminate this obstacle.

By the time visitors leave, we hope they feel more confident asking questions, more curious about where coffee comes from and more connected to the people behind it. Most importantly, we hope they realise that there is no single “correct” way to enjoy coffee. Their personal response to what they taste is a valid place to begin.

This is what your mornings have been missing

How can café owners, roasters, equipment brands and coffee lovers become part of what you’re building?

Independent events truly thrive only when the community sees value in them and takes active ownership of their evolution.

For café owners and roasters, we hope Another Coffee Festival provides a platform to meet new audiences, build relationships and represent their work in a setting centred on discovery rather than aggressive selling. Equipment and lifestyle brands have an opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the culture surrounding coffee. Ultimately, it’s coffee lovers whose participation gives the festival its energy and purpose.

Our 2026 roaster line-up is now fully confirmed, but businesses can express interest in future editions and join the waiting list. There will also be opportunities to collaborate with Another Coffee Initiative beyond the festival as the platform develops.

The simplest way to support the event is to attend with an open mind, speak to the participating roasters and bring someone who may not already consider themselves a specialty coffee drinker. We want this community to grow beyond the people who are already inside it.

Imagine we’re having this conversation 5 years from now. What would have to happen for you to look back at the first Another Coffee Fest and say, “That was a success”?

Success would not simply mean that the festival became larger or sold more tasting bundles.

We would measure the success of our first festival by the lasting relationships it fosters, such as international roasters returning to collaborate with local businesses, homegrown roasters finding opportunities abroad, or simply new talent feeling inspired to join the industry.

We also hope Another Coffee Initiative can grow beyond a once-a-year festival into a year-round platform supporting education, creative collaborations, workshops, pop-ups and opportunities for people throughout the coffee ecosystem.

Five years from now, I would like us to look back and see that the first festival helped Singapore become not only a city known for excellent coffee, but a regional meeting point where coffee communities, ideas and cultures come together. If the event encourages the industry to become more open, collaborative and accessible, that would be the change that matters.

We all start as consumers

I love seeing more people recognise that specialty coffee shouldn’t create spaces only for people who work in coffee. It should create spaces for everyone who enjoys coffee.

Trade shows and competitions will always have an important role. They raise standards, encourage innovation and bring the industry together.

Events like Another Coffee Festival serve a different, equally important, purpose. They introduce more people to specialty coffee and give enthusiasts a place to belong.

After all, every professional barista, roaster and café owner started as someone who simply enjoyed drinking coffee.

The more people we welcome into this community, the stronger our industry becomes.

Click here to pick up your Another Coffee Festival bundles.

Frequently asked questions

What is Another Coffee Festival?

Another Coffee Festival is a community-focused specialty coffee festival in Singapore that brings together local and international coffee roasters in an accessible environment designed for both coffee professionals and everyday coffee lovers.

When is Another Coffee Festival 2026?

Another Coffee Festival takes place from 3 to 6 September 2026 at Guoco Tower Urban Park in Singapore.

Is Another Coffee Festival free?

Yes. Admission is free. Visitors can purchase tasting tokens individually or buy a festival bundle that includes a custom tasting cup and tasting tokens.

How many roasters are participating?

The 2026 edition features 19 Singapore-based roasters and 15 international roasters.

What is The Home Barista Show?

The Home Barista Show is a community event for home coffee enthusiasts. It has hosted sold out events in Dubai, Sharjah, Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Why was Another Coffee Festival created?

The founders wanted to create an event centred on discovery, culture and human connection that complements traditional coffee trade shows and welcomes people beyond the coffee industry.

Who should attend Another Coffee Festival?

Anyone with an interest in coffee, whether you’re completely new to specialty coffee, a home brewer, a café owner or an experienced industry professional.