The Napoli Pizza Village is not just a popular festival, but a truly international event that mixes tradition, culture and innovation.
In 2017, the ‘Art of the Neapolitan pizzaiolo’ was officially recognised by Unesco as part of the national cultural heritage and included in the list of the intangible assets of humanity. According to the criteria of the 2003 Unesco Convention, the profession of pizza-making provides the community with a sense of identity and continuity, as well as contributing to the promotion of cultural respect and human creativity.
That of the pizzaiolo is a culinary practice that involves several steps: the preparation of the dough, the rotating movement to roll out the dough and create the disc to be topped, and the technique of baking in a wood-fired oven. Simple practices only in appearance!
The Unesco recognition brings pizza to the Olympus of national and international cuisine, identifying in the art of the Neapolitan pizza maker a cultural expression that manifests itself in an exceptional way, allowing this food production to be perceived as a brand of Italian-ness throughout the world.
A successful weekend
The Naoli Pizza Village inaugurated this 11th edition on Friday 16 June 2023 at the outdoor spaces of the Mostra d’Oltremare, in the Fuorigrotta district of Naples. Also present at the first evening were Teresa Armato, Councillor for Tourism and Productive Activities of the City of Naples, and Remo Minopoli, President of MdO, flanked by the organisers of the event, Alessandro Marinacci and Claudio Sebillo of Oramata Grandi Eventi.
On Friday alone, around 15 thousand people registered, with over 10 thousand pizzas taken out of the oven. The rest of the weekend was no less impressive, with a constant and varied attendance, thanks also to the numerous artists who performed during the evenings and the many activities offered throughout the days.
The first singer to do the honours on the large 220 square metre stage set up for the occasion at the Mostra d’Oltremare was Gigi D’Alessio, who made Neapolitans and tourists alike go wild on Friday. Not to be outdone on Saturday evening, Angelina Mango and Wax, from the Amici di Maria De Filippi school, were a big hit with the younger generation, followed by the great musician Tullio De Piscopo and other authors from the Neapolitan music scene.
This first weekend ended with the great energy of The Kolors, surprise guest Rocco Hunt, DJ and radio speaker Daniele Decibel Bellini and many other artists, in front of thousands of people present at the Pizza Village.
Exceptional partner was RTL 102.5, official radio of the Pizza Village, in constant radio and television connection with the Mostra d’Oltremare.
The Mission of the Festival
The Napoli Pizza Village is a veritable container of events, with music, top-quality products from Campania, and above all the pizza makers, the authentic stars of this festival, as Alessandro Marinacci, organiser together with Claudio Sebillo of this winning format, declared.
‘When we started this adventure in 2011, we already had a very clear objective,’ Marinacci told us, ‘namely to be able to organise a pizza event in Naples with the ambition that it could become over time what the Oktoberfest with beer is for Munich. A fixed appointment that could also be a further tourist attraction for the area’.
“The spirit of participation is that of belonging to a big family that in a tangible way does something for Naples and for pizza around the world, not only during these ten days,” Alessandro Marinacci continues
“The Napoli Pizza Village is a brand that lives 365 days a year, with many side activities: with the replicas we do abroad, like the event in New York or more recently the twinning in Tirana, Albania, where an event was organised to celebrate the week of Italian culture. The Tirana initiative came about last year at the behest of the Albanian prime minister, and was a true twinning of Italian and Albanian cultural roots, where Pizza Village was present to represent food made in Italy’.
A taste village full of attractions
Despite the change of location, no longer in the splendid setting of the Caracciolo seafront, the Napoli Pizza Village confirmed its seductive strength. The large, differentiated spaces and the greenery of the Mostra d’Oltremare with its tree-lined avenues gave the Event an extra touch. Entering from the main entrance, in fact, one has the feeling of crossing the threshold of a real village in which to immerse oneself in games for all ages, tastings of national products, conferences and cultural moments.
“This location can represent an extra opportunity for the entire event to involve important partners, both institutional and commercial, but above all to guarantee further quality organisational planning,” says Claudio Sebillo.
Trofeo Caputo, the World Pizzaiolo Championship in the Napoli Pizza Village
Now in its 20th edition, from this evening, Monday 19 until Wednesday 21 June, the World Pizzaiolo Championship will be held at the Mostra d’Oltremare, where some 500 professional pizza makers from all over the world will compete for the title.
To find out the complete event programme Napoli Pizza Village 2023: https://www.pizzavillage.it/programma-napoli
