Who We Are

I am Colin M. Caplan, New Haven native, historian, author, architect, tour operator, producer, educator and pizza guru. I started Taste of New Haven food tours and events 15 years ago and began the largest pizza festival in Connecticut in 2015 called the APIZZA FEAST. Each year this free festival attracts thousands of pizza lovers, community members, students and people from near and far. I am such a pizza enthusiast that I made a career around it, leading pizza tours and classes, writing a book on it, producing movies and shows about it, teaching and lecturing about it, and leading the cause to make New Haven the Pizza Capital of the United States.

This campaign will help fund the 2025 APIZZA FEAST on Friday September 12, 2025 and will support specific aspects of this festival to help make it a success, well attended and a standout event that will go down in history as the World’s Largest Pizza Party. While the APIZZA FEAST is free, we rely on community support to help us run it. The big push this year to mark the APIZZA FEAST as the World’s Largest Pizza Party also costs money and takes time and planning.

Funding the Guinness World Records attempt for the World’s Largest Pizza Party is a big part of our overall funding for this year’s APIZZA FEAST. Creating a world record is no easy feat, and working with the world’s leading record keeping group takes planning, money, organization and execution. Achieving this world record will continue to embellish New Haven as one of the major pizza cities in the world, driving more attention, more tourism, more business and more pride which all help create a better place to live, work, learn and play.

What We Need

The APIZZA FEAST is a free entry event and requires funding and community support to produce. We are crowdsourcing money this year in order to produce more and have the community at large get more engaged in the process. As a small business we rely on sponsors and patrons who believe in creating large scale community events that center around food, culture, art, sport and gathering. The APIZZA FEAST will have around $100,000 in costs this year. We have secured half of this funding and still need to raise $50,000. Here is a breakdown of how the funding will be spent:

Staffing: $10,000

Permitting: $5000

Equipment: $10,000

Entertainment: $20,000

Supplies: $5000

Insurance: $2000

Marketing: $5000

Advertising: $3000

Art: $2000

Decor: $2000

Guinness World Records application: $35,000

TOTAL: $100,000

Funded: $50,000

Needed: $50,000

What You Get

By contributing to this fund we have some amazing rewards that will appeal to all levels of contributor.

$10 Mention in a post on social media

$25 Slice of America Poster

$50 Pizza A Love Story DVD

$75 Pizza in New Haven Book signed by author

$100 All of the Above!

$250 One Taste of New Haven Pizza Tour Ticket

$500 All of the Above!

$1000 All of the Above plus VIP Pass at APIZZA FEAST

$2500 All of the Above plus Name Listed as APIZZA FEAST Sponsor

$5000 All of the Above plus Logo Listed as APIZZA FEAST Sponsor

$10,000 All of the Above plus APIZZA FEAST Major Sponsor

The Impact

Your contribution will help build this amazing community event and experience to be bigger and better, more accessible and more fun! By opening up the APIZZA FEAST to you as a contributor, you will have a valuable stake in it and help us achieve goals we would not be able to reach otherwise.

We are running our 11th annual APIZZA FEAST and each year we attract close to 20,000 people in a safe, fun, tasty and entertaining environment. Our event is loved by attendees, vendors, staff and municipal workers while serving thousands of slices of pizza. We have a real chance to beat the existing world record for largest pizza party, currently held by Tulsa, Oklahoma with 3357 attendees. Since the application for the Guinness World Records application is a large portion of the budget, we see the outcome, having the APIZZA FEAST awarded this record, as being an amazing achievement.

Risks & Challenges

This campaign is a great way to take part in a true community event. With out outstanding track record running this going on 11 years, your contribution will support real costs and real activities that will benefit this event. The APIZZA FEAST is one the most celebrated and fun events in the City of New Haven and runs in tandem with the New Haven Grand Prix. The City of New Haven is a partner and sponsor, and helps mitigate risks so that the event is a success, year after year.

Other Ways You Can Help

If you are not in a place to contribute, please use social media and word of mouth to share this campaign, and most of all, come join us at the APIZZA FEAST for the World’s Largest Pizza Party on Friday September 12, 2025, 4pm-10pm on College Street in Downtown New Haven!