Budapest is in the spotlight as the third European stop of the new season of Gelato Festival World Masters in 2024, the international traveling competition in search of the best gelato flavors in the world. On March 5th, the event will be held at the Sirha Budapest trade show (Gelato Square – Pavilion G) where 16 gelato artisans will compete for a spot in the National finals in 2025. The Gelato Festival World Masters Challenge is organized by Gelato Festival in collaboration with Bulfoni Kft, Carpigiani’s official distributor in Hungary, and Sigep – Italian Exhibition Group. 
On the competition day, the chefs will prepare their gelato in the kitchen provided by the organizers; then, industry experts, local chefs, food journalists will taste and judge the gelato. The top 3 flavors will go on to compete in the Hungarian Finals of Gelato Festival World Masters in 2025. 

The program of the day will be full of surprises! Alongside the competition there will be several special guests. At 11am the current World Champion, Ádám Fazekas of Fazekas Cukrászda in Budapest, will have a demonstration with the flavor that granted him the first place in the World Final in 2021: “Frutta di Pistacchio”, a creamy salted pistachio gelato with a Tonka bean spiced raspberry coulis and a pistachio crumble.

At 1pm another special event with the 6 finalists selected in 2022 and 2023 with their winning flavors: 
-    First place 2022 - Norbert Tóth of Tóth cukrászda in Dunaföldvár with the flavor “Karibi kávé miso karamellel” 
            Description: Caribbean coffee gelato with miso caramel and rum

-    Second place 2022 - Dávid Wilheim of DaCrema Fagyizó in Nagykanizsa with the flavor “Il Re del Piemonte” 
Description: Piedmont hazelnut gelato with blackberry sauce, crunchy milk chocolate, caramelised hazelnuts

-    Third place 2022 - János Somodi of Florida Fagyizó in Balatonmáriafürdő (Somogy) with the flavor “Torta della nonna” (Nonna’s cake)

-    First place 2023: István Felsődiósi of Lufi fagyizó in Győr with the flavor “Go(a)t milk?”
Description: Goat cheese gelato variegated with figs and pistachios

-    Second place 2023 : Adam Pataki of Pataki in Erd (Pest) with the flavor “Frutta di cafè”
Description: Coffee and white chocolate gelato with lemon confit and salted caramel

-    Third place 2023: László Nagy of Marcipán Cukrászda in Dunaföldvár with the flavor “Mandulás Fehércsoki”
Description: White chocolate and almond gelato

These 6 winning flavors will be available on March 5th to be tasted by the audience, press and other gelato pastry professionals.

With the 2022-25 edition Gelato Festival World Masters reaches its thirteenth year, having debuted in Florence in 2010 as “Gelato Festival”, a local competition inspired by the conception of the first gelato recipe at the hands of the multifaceted architect Bernardo Buontalenti in 1559. Since then, the event has grown exponentially by expanding first to the rest of Italy, then to Europe and - since 2017 - to the United States as well, before embracing the entire planet with the Gelato Festival World Masters world championship, which involved more than 3,500 gelato makers with the 2017-2021 edition, which was won by Adam Fazekas from Budapest.