Naples to host 2026 Handmade Pasta Championship with free public festival

Naples will turn its Stazione Marittima into a free, three-day stage for handmade pasta when the 2026 Handmade Pasta Championship joins the fifth DMED, Salone della Dieta Mediterranea, from June 11 to June 13. Public hours run from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. each day, with talks, cooking shows, workshops, masterclasses, an expo area and the DOP and IGP Festival sharing the floor with the competition.

Behind the event is Consorzio EDAMUS, the non-profit consortium of producers’ organizations and businesses that promotes the Mediterranean diet as a cultural, food and social model recognized by UNESCO. This year’s theme, Cibo, Cultura e Benessere, puts Pace at the center, and the festival carries patronage from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests, and the Ministry of University and Research, with support from institutions across Campania and beyond. The project has also traveled through New York, Hong Kong, Madrid, Calabria, Bologna and, starting in 2026, Berlin, Nuremberg, Barcelona, Rimini and Milan before ending in Naples.

The pasta championship gives the festival its sharpest edge. It is the national final of a competition now in its third edition, and Thursday, June 11, will open with PASTA Lab masterclasses and workshops led by Neapolitan chef Domenico Pastena, the 2025 winner, and Cilento chef Gerardo Bastardi. Friday, June 12, brings the professional final, with 22 finalists drawn from across Europe and beyond after qualifying rounds in Turin, Bologna, Florence, Milan, Bari, Modugno, Rome, Salerno and Pontecagnano Faiano. Saturday, June 13, shifts the spotlight to the Lovers category, where enthusiastic pasta makers and home cooks will take their turn at the bench. The competition also includes a gluten-free category.

The final prize matches the event’s local pride: the overall winners will receive a Pettorello ceramic work by Paganese artist Sasà Sorrentino. DMED will also hand out the Dmed Awards across six areas, Culture, Food, Research and Innovation, Social, Sport and Health, while confirmed guests include Beppe Convertini, Samuel Peron, Cartisia Somma, Nino Di Costanzo, Cristina Bowerman, Michele De Blasio, Sal De Riso, Cristiano Tomei and Salvatore Giugliano. For pasta fans, Naples is not just hosting a contest; it is opening a public classroom where technique, regional identity and Mediterranean food culture can be seen in motion.