Last weekend, the Gelato Festival America touched down for the second year in a row and had its first Jersey City Edition at Liberty State Park in Jersey City. A professional judging panel which consists of eleven judges enjoyed evaluating participating gelato creators over a 2 day period. Attendees had the opportunity to enjoy authentic gelato and to assist in voting for their favorites. In addition, guests enjoyed demonstrations, contests and games, ceremonies and of course - tasting gelato.

Best flavor at the Festival was given to Dark Chocolate Surprise (this flavor included 80% dark Chocolate from South America with a little bitter infusion), presented by Giacomo d’Alessandro from Polosud Gelato, Coffee & Pastries in New York, NY. Taking 1st place meant that not only did he receive a medal from Florentine goldsmith Paolo Penko, he will compete in the North American Semi-Finals in 2019 for a chance to be 1 of 3 Americans to compete in the Gelato Festival World Masters in 2021 in Italy.

The Gelato Festival America is on a missoin to spread the culture of artisanal Italian gelato in the US, this year featuring eight cities. Held in collaboration with strategic partners Carpigiani, ISA, Italian Exhibition Group Sigep and main Sponsor PreGel, the Gelato Festival America 2018 generates the first entrants into the Gelato Festival World Masters 2021, the challenge for the best artisan gelato chefs on the planet. The first eight gelato chefs selected at each stage of the Gelato Festival America 2018 will win the right to continue the challenge towards the final – it’s the World Cup of gelato, a journey with hundreds of trials over four years on five continents!

The Gelato Festival made its debut in Florence in 2010 inspired by the idea of he first gelato recipe by the architect Bernardo Buontalenti in 1559. Since then, the Gelato Festival has expanded its borders, beginning in Italy, then spreading throughout Europe and finally in 2017 to the United States - A total of 64 festivals, preparing the whole planet for the world championship of the Gelato Festival World Masters 2021.

The four 1st place winners from the 2017 Gelato Festival America, along with the eight 1st place winners from the 2018 Gelato Festival America will be competing in 2019 for one of the three spots to head to the Gelato Festival World Masters 2021 in Italy. The 2nd and 3rd artisans will be selected in 2019-2020. In the Gelato Festival World Masters 2021, there will be a total of 36 chefs from all over the world competing for the main title.

Additional gelato categories and their winners are below:

The Fabulous Flavors of Jersey City '18 Winner: Dark Chocolate Surprise by Giacomo d’Alessandro of Polosud Gelato, Coffee & Pastries.
The Fabulous Flavors of Jersey City '18 Runner Up: Buontalenti by Niccolo Pomposi of Gelateria Badiani
The Fabulous Flavors of Jersey City '18 Third Place: New York I Love You! by Noel Knecht of Black Dog Gelato
The Gela-to-go Award: The most sold gelato at the New Jersey festival was Dark Chocolate Surprise by Giacomo d’Alessandro of Polosud Gelato, Coffee & Pastries.
Technical Jury by ISA: Persian Paradise by Mike Guerriero of Gelotti in Caldwell, NJ.
Popular Jury by PreGel: Peach-Mango with Calamansi by Peter Jose of Jersey & Co Gelato in Jersey City, NJ.
Kids Jury: Partly Cloudy by Jenny Ao of A La Mode.
Speed Cup Race by ISA: Jenny Ao of A La Mode. Sponsored by ISA, Speed Cup Race is about speed. Each Gelato chef has 30 seconds to serve as many perfect servings of Gelato as possible. Jenny was able to serve 11 perfect cups, followed by Mike Guerriero of Gelotti with 9 and Dolma Yang Chen of Roots with 8.
Stack It High by PreGel: Mike Guerriero of Gelotti. Sponsored by Pregel, each Gelato Chef was given 30 seconds to stack as many scoops of gelato into a cup as possible. Mike set a record with 22.
Best Video: The best video made was by Kristina and Pierre Frantz of Dolce Brooklyn in Brooklyn, NY.