by Adam Walker The New Haven independent
Doug Coffin and Liane Varipapa: Ready to serve a record-setting 5,000.
To make pizza history on the New Haven Green, you’ll need to eat two full slices — and stay until the very end of the party.
That’s just one of several strict requirements New Haven must follow as it attempts to break the Guinness World Record for the largest pizza party. The current title is held by the Pizza World Champions in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where 3,357 pizza-eating participants gathered on Jan. 21, 2023.
New Haven’s goal? A record-crushing 5,000 pizza lovers on the Green this September.
The record attempt was officially announced Tuesday morning at a press conference on the New Haven Green, where city officials and local pizza leaders laid out the ambitious plan — and the exacting rules. In partnership with Guinness World Records, the city must ensure that every attendee eats at least two slices of pizza, is counted upon entry, and remains in the designated area from 4 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 12. Anyone who leaves early, skips their slices, or isn’t verified by one of the required volunteer stewards could put the record at risk.
“This is serious,” said event organizer Colin Caplan, founder of Taste of New Haven. “This is like playing a pizza game — and we have to play by the rules.”
The effort is part of the next annual A‑1 Toyota Apizza Feast and New Haven Grand Prix, which put downtown into a full-blown food and cycling festival. The pizza party will take place from 4 to 7 p.m., followed by a free public Apizza Feast from 7 to 10 p.m., spanning the Green and College Street between Elm and Chapel.
“This is not a normal festival. This is a world’s largest pizza party,” Caplan said to the crowd. “Our job is to be exact, and we need to get it right.”
To meet the expected demand, organizers estimate they’ll need at least 625 large pizzas, with additional food and dessert stands also planned. The Big Green Truck Pizza will bring four trucks to the event and has the capacity to serve specifically for a pizza party of this scale. Volunteers are still being recruited to serve as stewards — one for every 100 attendees — who will verify each slice is eaten and help maintain the count.
Tickets are priced at $15 through Aug. 1, and include two slices of pizza, a bottle of water, and a drink ticket. Children under 17 may attend with a guardian, and all participants are encouraged to arrive early. The largest crowds are expected between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m., and latecomers may find themselves stuck in long lines — something New Haven knows a thing or two about.
“When I started Big Green Truck Pizza, a pizza party was just a bunch of teenagers around a coffee table with cardboard boxes,” said Doug Coffin. “The idea that 5,000 people would come out to eat our pizza is just extraordinary.” Coffin and Liane Varipapa, who now leads the company, will oversee Big Green Truck’s contribution to the event.
He added that New Haven’s pizza culture — like much of American cuisine — owes its richness to immigrant communities bringing new ideas, foods, and energy to the region.
City officials emphasized the event’s economic and cultural significance, pointing to New Haven’s growing national recognition as a culinary destination.
“With 5,000 people coming to downtown New Haven, it supports our hotels, it supports small businesses, and it supports the craft of New Haven apizza for so many people,” said city Economic Development Administrator Michael Piscitelli.
Also speaking at Tuesday’s event were Mayor Justin Elicker and Louis Mangini of U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro’s office, who highlighted ongoing efforts to cement New Haven’s pizza legacy — including a 2023 congressional statement declaring the city the “pizza capital of the United States.” Just last month, DeLauro submitted another statement to the Congressional Record, this time honoring the centennial of Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria.
With its status already claimed in Congress, New Haven is now aiming for a spot in the record books — and perhaps an even bigger slice of global recognition.
At Tuesday’s presser.