New Haven’s famed apizza shops are no strangers to long lines of people hungry for delicious apizza pies. Now the city is calling on that same devotion to help it win the Guinness World Records title for the world’s largest pizza party.
The current record holder, according to Guinness World Records, belongs to Tulsa, OK. But Mayor Justin Elicker said New Haven can do better.
“We're gonna crush it, yes, not by having 3,358 people, but our goal is 5,000 people,” Elicker said.
City officials and pizzeria advocates announced Tuesday the city will host a apizza party on Sept. 12, on the New Haven Green. The event will coincide with the New Haven Grand Prix and occur before the A-1 Toyota Apizza Feast.
While officials say the party is good fun, they also highlighted the importance of food tourism in New Haven, and the role of immigrant food service workers in the industry.
As for the apizza party, people will have to pay anywhere from $10 to $20 to enter the event .
Colin Caplan, the founder of Taste of New Haven and a producer of the documentary Pizza, A Love Story, about New Haven style apizza, said the event is family friendly.
“Kids are welcome,” Caplan said. “Anyone under 17 should come with a guardian; the drink ticket includes wine or beer.”
But while the event is lighthearted, there are rules. According to city officials, the party can accommodate up to 5,000 people and every single person needs to eat two slices.
Caplan said attendees will be handed two slices and sent to four corrals, each able to handle 100 people. Those corrals in total, can handle 400 people in 15 minute intervals, for three hours, he said. People need to be witnessed eating the slices and if 10 percent of the attendees leave, then the event is disqualified.
Caplan said the process can be a bit impersonal, but it's to ensure everyone has a chance to savor the estimated 625 pies needed to feed 5,000 people.
“That's how we have to do it,” he said. “It is very strict, unfortunately, more like livestock eating pizza, but happy livestock going to feed on some more,” Caplan said.
While Caplan is focused on the ins and outs of apizza distribution, the city’s economic development administrator, Michael Piscitelli said events like these are big draws for the city’s tourism sector.
Piscitelli said the event can also grow the city’s social media reach.
“It's the Guinness World Records,” Piscitelli said. “This is a platform that is international. There are over 19 million subscribers to this platform on YouTube. There are over 50 million followers on social media.”
