๐๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ง๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ has chosen its champions: Domenico Penna (Organic Tonda di Calabria hazelnut, chocolate, soft chocolate dark chocolate and bitter cocoa), Gianluca Montervino (licorice ice cream flavored with mint and crunchy white mulberries) and Ghassan Boumellah (Sur de Lago cocoa mass โ Venezuela, water, sugar, dextrose, vegetable fibres, dehydrated orange, bitter orange blossom water and hazelnut brittle).
The prize winner instead awarded Mirco Errigo (White chocolate ice cream, hazelnut and caramel ripple, lightly salted cocoa crumble, toasted cereals, wafers and cocoa beans), Alessandro Squatrito (Pure hazelnut ice cream with 72% Venezuelan chocolate covering and toasted hazelnuts) and Giorgio Lanza (Mascarpone ice cream, hazelnut cream and coconut crumble). They are the protagonists who open the story of a simply extraordinary fifth edition, capable of bringing Scirubetta 2026 into the firmament of international gastronomic events.
The record festival
Scirubetta 2026, the ice cream festival in Reggio Calabria with incredible numbers. Scirubetta 2026 told the story of a city and a sector in full movement, supported by numbers that speak for themselves: 34 master ice cream makers, seven countries involved – Japan, United States, Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Macedonia and Belgium – and over 100 thousand visitors on the Falcomatร seafront. A fifth edition that transformed Reggio Calabria into an international laboratory of taste, where local techniques, cultures and supply chains were intertwined in a shared story.
Guiding this vision was Conpait president Angelo Musolino, who relaunched the idea of โโan ice cream capable of representing the gastronomic identity of Reggio Calabria and Italy. Mayor Francesco Cannizzaro reiterated his ambition to make Reggio Calabria a true world capital of ice cream, while Arsac guaranteed strategic support for the supply chain and organization. The work of Giovanna Pizzi was fundamental, orchestrating the entire communication framework, building a program of talks and meetings that brought authoritative guests, professionals and representatives of the main associations in the sector to the stage.
Institutional presences
On the central stage, the mayor Francesco Cannizzaro brought the greetings of the Metropolitan City and the official welcome to all the protagonists of the festival, underlining the cultural and tourist value of an event that now represents an identity brand of the city. In the afternoon, the councilor for agriculture Gianluca Gallo stopped in Scirubetta, shaking hands with all 34 ice cream makers, tasting different flavors and taking part in the talk on Calabrian agri-food products wanted by Arsac and the director Fulvia Caligiuri, in the presence of Noemi Spinetti, Silvio Bessone and Angelo Musolino, hosted by Giovanna Pizzi. To make the day even more special, the presence of the splendid Chiara, godmother of the Il Sorriso di Natale e Chiara association, who brought a message of sweetness and solidarity.
The contents and the highlights
Among the most significant passages, the intervention of the national president of Confartigianato Marco Granelli and the president of the confectionery sector Cristiano Gaggion, who presented the proposal for an official brand for traditional Italian ice cream, based on clear criteria: fresh raw materials, local supply chains, daily processing, clear distinction from industrial products. A specification that aims to protect consumers and enhance a sector which in Italy has 9,345 laboratories, of which 6,126 artisans, and which in Calabria records 241 activities, with an annual family expenditure of 60 million euros.
The Velvet competition dedicated to the best alcoholic sorbet was highly anticipated, attracting large participation and sparking competition among master ice cream makers.
Mimmo Cavallaro’s concert was also spectacular, making the whole village dance, transforming the Lungomare into a huge popular festival.
The cooking shows with chefs and pastry chefs working together to mix sweet and savory flavors are always sold out. A formula, promoted by Zanussi, which worked very well, thanks also to the precious support of the children and students of the Ipalb Tur “Trecroci” hotel institute in Villa San Giovanni headed by the principal Enza Loiero. Among the most intense moments was also the recognition given to the Caridi sisters for the history of Crema Reggina, the taste linked to the figure of Giuseppe Caridi and which has become part of the confectionery memory of the city. It was collected by Marilena Caridi, who remembered her father’s work and the path continued by the women of the family. As well as the embrace and twinning with Reggio Calabria Film festival presented by Marco Mauro.
Finally, the Panettone World Cup with Piffaretti saw the following triumph:
Giorgio Lanza (first)
Carmelo Caratozzolo (second)
Santoro Christmas (third)
The final statement by president Angelo Musolino
ยซI thank the whole team, colleagues, companies and everyone who made this the best edition ever. From tomorrow we will already be working for next year. The objective, shared with the Metropolitan City, Arsac and the Region, is to create the outdoor ice cream festival along the entire Reggio seafront, unique in the global confectionery scene. The conditions are all there.”