Ximena Solorzano, Head Photography Editor

New Haven officially broke the Guinness World Record for the largest pizza party — with 4,525 participants — on Sept. 12, and in the weeks since, city officials have highlighted the economic momentum the event generated for the city. 

The pizza party took place on the New Haven Green, amid the city’s annual Apizza Feast, alongside around 70 vendors and food trucks. As event participants munched on pizza, bikers competing in the New Haven Grand Prix whizzed around downtown. Prominent DJ Funk Flex performed on the Green later that evening. 

“It was a relatively small investment, upwards of about $30,000, supplemented by staff and volunteers,” Carlos Eyzaguirre, deputy administrator for the city’s economic development administration, said. “This fits within our regular economic development, arts and culture budget.” 

Eyzaguirre emphasized the pizza party’s popularity, estimating that between 10,000 and 15,000 people, including those who participated in the record-breaking pizza party, attended the events on the Green that evening — an all-time record.

Of the roughly 4,500 pizza party participants, Eyzaguirre added, about 1,500 were non-New Haveners.

Beyond the event’s financial success, Eyzaguirre also stressed its cultural impact for the city’s pizza industry.

“I think it just reinforces that we’re at the center of this movement that’s sort of gotten a lot bigger than us,” Eyzaguirre said. “The state has embraced it too — with things like the pizza license plate, the pizza trail and even Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro’s proclamation of New Haven as the pizza capital of the world. I think all of those things really are sort of building this movement that shows no signs of stopping.” 

Though Eyzaguirre described the event as a “relatively small investment,” he said carrying out the event required extensive planning. He credited the parks, police and fire departments with ensuring safety on the Green, adding that the economic development and mayor’s office handled marketing and public outreach. 

At a Monday ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce headquarters, Mayor Justin Elicker touted the record-breaking pizza party. 

“We are the host of the world’s largest pizza party, which is just incredible — it’s a point of ours,” Elicker said at the ceremony.

He also cited the pizza party while speaking last week at YIMBYtown, a national “pro-homes” conference that New Haven hosted this year.

In a statement to the News, Elicker acknowledged that in years prior to the 2025 record break, the annual Apizza Feast and Grand Prix tended to attract additional foot traffic in downtown New Haven.

Each participant in the record-breaking pizza party was required to stay at the event for at least 15 minutes, eat two pizza slices and drink a small bottle of water to be tallied in the Guinness World Record count of attendees.

Leo Nyberg and Riya Nadkarni contributed reporting.