A giant picnic with 500 cakes is taking place in London — with unlimited slices

Two years ago, Elisa Sunga woke up one morning craving cake. 

‘I wanted to lounge in the park and eat a lot of cake, but I didn’t want to bake it all myself,’ she tells Metro.

‘I had a full-time job at Google, so I couldn’t just get up and make a load of cakes, as baking is such an involved project that takes hours, sometimes even days.’

So, the 35-year-old from San Francisco decided to do the next best thing and see if she could convince others to do the hard work for her. 

‘I came up with the idea to hold an event where everyone was required to bring a cake. 

‘I assumed I’d get at least five cakes; I had no idea that there’d be hundreds!’

Elisa took to Instagram to share the idea for Cake Picnic, and her post quickly went viral.

‘I was refreshing the page, and at first 50 people wanted to go, then 60, 70, and at one point it reached 300,’ she recalls.

‘I was so scared when I actually started planning the event because I was worried I was going to become the joke of the internet. I was completely serious about having a cake picnic, but wasn’t sure if anyone else would actually turn up.’

But when the big day arrived, her fears were assuaged, as 183 people showed up with sweet treats. 

And pretty soon, cake lovers around the world were begging her to bring the event to their country too. 

Working with her boyfriend and Cake Picnic co-founder, Danny Knight, Elisa began hosting more events, with one strict rule: No cake, no entry.

The event has since gone global, with a Cake Picnic Tour even taking place this year with stops in Mexico City, Melbourne, San Diego, New York, and Los Angeles.

And on July 5, Cake Picnic will be happening in London. 

This will be the second time the event has headed across the pond to the UK, after a sell-out session in Greenwich Park in 2025, and around 500 people are expected to attend. 

The exact location of the 2026 event is currently being kept under wraps, only being disclosed to ticket holders upon purchase. 

Various two-hour sessions are running throughout the day, with tickets costing $50 (£38). The price includes entry to the event and bottomless cake during their time slot. And when we say bottomless, we’re not exaggerating. 

As every guest is required to bring a cake, there will be hundreds of cakes on offer throughout the day, and attendees are given a cake box, which they load up with as many slices as they’d like.

‘The most popular cake flavours are ube, black sesame, pistachio, and passion fruit. If those flavours are on the table, they’ll be gone very quickly,’ Elisa says.

@cakepicnictour

Instagram Repost from @pollychan_bakehouse London’s First Cake Picnic by @cakepicnictour ✨???????????????? Had THE BEST time and met loads of wonderful cake-loving people – my kinda people ???????????? Would definitely go again! Never in my life was it ever this acceptable to eat over hundreds of amazing cakes, my taste buds went into overdrive. Situated in the stunning Greenwich park, it made the whole experience feel magical. Thank you Elisa @saltedrye and the cake picnic team for creating such a successful event and making it the most memorable day! Hope you had the most delicious birthday! ???? Thank you to my buddy Sophie @allday.cake for all the cake fun ???? . . . cakepicnic londoncakepicnic cakepicniclondon freshcreamcakeslondon chocolatepuddingcake freshlybakedcakes cakeparty cakecrew cakesinsummer

♬ original sound – cakepicnictour – cakepicnictour

In terms of rules for the event, all of the cakes have to be a minimum of eight inches wide and three inches tall.

Some people have raised concerns about food safety and hygiene, as the event involves eating food made by strangers, but Elisa stresses they’ve not had any issues with food poisoning at events before. 

‘There is a risk, as it’s a potluck-style, community event – everyone is bringing their own cake,’ she explains.

‘However, we do encourage people to bring their best cake, and we share instructions on how to bake safely and how to safely transport cake too.’

A message on the event website states: ‘We want to eat well. Please only bring cakes that you are absolutely excited about and would be proud to share with others. If you have never baked a cake before, you should practice baking several cakes before the event to prepare. If you aren’t inspired to bring the best cake that you can, this event is not for you.’

Cake Picnic London tickets have unfortunately now sold out, but there is a waitlist online that people can join.

There’s also good news for those who missed out on a ticket, though, as Elisa is hoping to bring the event back to London very soon – and possibly hold picnics in other major UK cities.

‘I really want to do more events in the UK,’ she reveals. ‘We did an Australia tour this year, and it was so fun to visit several cities there and see the differences in cake. 

‘I’ve found that British people really love cake and have such a passion for it, so I think we could definitely do a multi-city tour in the UK at some point, visiting London and another city like Manchester or Bristol.’

So keep your eyes peeled for updates! 

And if you can’t wait for cake, Elisa recently released a cookbook inspired by brilliant bakes she’s tried at Cake Picnic over the last two years, with a guide for hosting your own picnic.

Named after the event itself, recipes inside the book include a Sour Cherry & Pistachio Buttermilk Cake, Chocolate & Earl Grey Whipped Cream Cake, Roasted Apple & Sesame Upside-Down Cake, and a Pretzel S’mores Cake. Yum!

These are all creations she’s learned to bake along the way, as she only took an interest in baking during the pandemic.

‘I started baking in March 2020, when the whole world was making banana bread and sourdough, and I fell in love with it,’ she says.

‘I’ve shared some of my own cake creations in the book, as well as some of the ones I’ve seen on tour, plus a mini guide for hosting your own, smaller, picnic in your back garden or living room.’

The book launched last month, and Elisa still can’t believe it’s real.

Would you attend a Cake Picnic event like this one? Share your thoughts below!Comment Now

‘I’m still so surprised by how much of a phenomenon Cake Picnic has been. It’s unbelievable.

‘There are moments when I just pinch myself, like, what do you mean this girl is touring the world because she wants to eat cake?!’

She adds: ‘It’s also been so fun and heartwarming to see people come together to enjoy cake in this way. We’ve had people travel from all over the world to attend these events, and they’re people of all ages too – from kids to great-grandparents.

‘I think that in our society right now, we spend so much time doomscrolling and rotting, so it’s nice to have an event that not only forces you to use your hands, get creative, and make a cake, but also get outside and touch grass… literally!’

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