Sicilian street food calls and tourists respond. This is the key that triggered the presentation of Bagheria’s Sfincione fest in the spaces of the Extra-Hotel Tourism Exchange, underway at the Cruise Terminal at the port of Palermo.
Everything is ready for the seventh edition of the event dedicated to sfincione, scheduled for 22, 23 and 24 November: three days in the city of Guttuso and Tornatore, of noble villas and starred restaurants, on the outskirts of Palermo, from afternoon to evening, to taste the ‘pizza of the Sicilians’.
The event is organised by the La Piana d’Oro association with the contribution of the Sicilian Region‘sDepartment of Agriculture for Rural Development and Mediterranean Fisheries .
Sfincione bianco, a product specific to Bagheria, but also red, according to Sicilian tradition, will be available for tasting along Corso Umberto I in the ‘little houses’ of bakers from all over Sicily. Each of them will present sfincione with the variations that make it unique in each place on the island.
Plenty of space over the three days for show cooking, entertainment, and shows, with the presence of musical groups such as the Cugini di Campagna (Friday 22) and Sugarfree (Sunday), who will perform on the stage in Piazza Madrice. Saturday will be dancing until late at night, however, with the show of the wild I 40 che ballano ‘90. Sasà Salvaggio will conduct the events, flanked by Marianna Bonanno and Nadia La Malfa, to guide the public through the numerous culinary challenges and show cooking in the Sfincione Taste in front of the famous Villa Palagonia.
Space will also be given to guest stars of the culinary art, such as Giusina in Cucina, Andy Luotto and Tony Lo Coco, star chef of the restaurant I Pupi di Bagheria. Representing the white sfincione will be, in order, the Panificio Conti, theAntica Focacceria 1956, the Forneria Scaduto and La bontà senza Glutine, in the sign of inclusion also in street food.
The other sfincioni from the province of Palermo present at the event will be those of Piana degli Albanesi, Misilmeri , Palermo, Camporeale, Monreale, Santa Flavia, Ficarazzi and Corleone. The event will have two competitions promoted by Molino Riggi: Sicily Young Bakery Competition, which will see four emerging talents vie for the title of best young baker of the year, and the national Pizza dell’Identità championship , a challenge between four regions, Sicily with Peppe Martinez, Lazio with Christian Riccio, Tuscany with Antonio Minissale and Campania with the multi-award-winning Carmine Pellone, who will each present a leavened product typical of popular tradition.
At the Sfincione Taste, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., it will be possible to watch cooking shows by illustrious names such as Gioacchino Gargano, Daniele Vaccarella and Pierangelo Chifari but also Seby Sorbello and the Sicilian face of Masterchef Luciano Di Marco. There will also be presentations and debates, which will take place in the Arena Talk Show in Piazza Butifar, an in-depth corner promoted by the Arena Group, a leader in large-scale distribution that this year celebrates 10 years of the Decò brand.

‘Great goals and high expectations,’ says Michele Balistreri, president of the La Piana d’Oro association, which organises the Sfincione Fest , ‘ for an event that has been promoting our territory for years. In 2017, the year the event began, we achieved a turnover of around 3 million euro. In 2024 we will reach 4.5 million, a growth of 50 per cent. The Sfincione Fest succeeds in bringing operators and institutions together and becomes a territorial marketing tool aimed at tourism development and economic growth,’ he says.
‘We are planning a strategy to make Sfincione Fest grow ,’ say Adalberto Catanzaro and Salvatore Scaduto, producers of the event, ’ with the aim of creating connections with other regions and ensuring that the festival dedicated to leavened products can make sfincione recognised as the pizza of the Sicilians.
‘The Sfincione Fest,’ confirms the mayor of Bagheria, Filippo Maria Tripoli, ‘ celebrates not only a dish that is a symbol of our culinary tradition, but also the very soul of Bagheria. With its unique taste and century-old history, it is much more than just a food: it is the symbol of an indissoluble bond with our roots, a cultural heritage that we have a duty to protect and promote. This initiative by the La Piana d’Oro association, which we thank and support with our patronage, is important for the area. It is an opportunity to make Bagheria’s food and wine excellence known to a wider public, to enhance the work of our producers and to attract tourists. I thank all those who collaborated in the organisation of this event and invite everyone to participate in large numbers’.

The municipality of Bagheria, after all, believes strongly in the promotion and development of tourism, as Francesco Gurrado, municipal councillor for tourism, explains, adding that ‘precisely because of our faith in the territory’s potential, we have chosen an important showcase for the presentation of the seventh edition of the Sfincione fest, the Stock Exchange of non-hotel tourism. The best way to highlight an identity product such as sfincione, the taste ambassador of the city of Bagheria’.