Celebrated on third Thursday of June every year, this festival, native to Spain, is back again to allow foodies to experience the time of the lives.

Tapas, a type of appetiser, usually enjoyed with beer, wine or another beverage is a must try dish for food lovers from all around the world. In 2016, Turespaña, Spain’s tourism agency, declared World Tapas Day on the third Thursday in June to celebrate with the world Spain’s cuisine of miniature plates and the menus.

While going out for tapas is a custom that exists all over the country, certain cities including Granada, Salamanca, Valladolid, Logroño, Zaragoza, León, Alcalá de Henares and many other Spanish cities towns have a special reputation for it. The dish served in different forms, cold, hot, served on toast, or in clay pots can be put into three broad categories, finger food Cosas de picar, with a utensil banderillas and little dish Cazuelas usually served with sauce.

In Spain, “ir de tapas”, going from bar to bar tasting tapas while having fun with friends is an important part of this annual tradition. In addition to the good old regular bars, in many cities you can try tapas in other more modern spaces, like gastro bars or old converted markets that are now gourmet markets.

The most important thing for when going out for tapas during this festival is to enjoy the food, the company and, of course, life itself.