Texas is in the spotlight as the third North American stop of 2024 of the new season of Gelato Festival World Masters, the international traveling competition in search of the best gelato flavors in the world. On April 11, the event will be held at Coolers Inc.’s in Houston, TX, where 12 gelato makers will compete for a spot in the North American Semifinals in 2024. The Challenge is organized by Carpigiani North America in collaboration with Gelato Festival and Sigep – Italian Exhibition Group, the world’s premier artisan-gelato trade show. The tour has the mission to spread the culture of artisan gelato throughout the world.
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 3 top flavors will go on to compete in the North American Semifinals of Gelato Festival World Masters in 2024.

Gelato Festival debuted in Florence in 2010, inspired by the creation of the first gelato recipe by the versatile architect Bernardo Buontalenti in 1559. Since then, the event has expanded its borders, first to the rest of Italy, then to Europe and – starting in 2017 – the United States, with a total of 80 Festivals held, before embracing the entire planet with the world championship of Gelato Festival World Masters 2021, which concluded in December 2021 - with the victory of Adam Fazekas from Budapest - and saw a record of 3,500 gelato artisans judged by international juries.