From Oct. 19 to 25, pizzerias in 49 Colombian cities will serve up their best competition creations for a flat 22,000 pesos — roughly US$6 a pizza. It's all part of Pizza Master 2026, a week-long festival that turns the country into one big, friendly pizza contest.
The event is the brainchild of Tulio Zuloaga, the food content creator behind "Tulio Recomienda" and similar festivals like Burger Master and Sushi Master. Each participating restaurant invents a special pizza just for the week, and diners do the judging: try a pie, then rate it in the Tulio app, which doubles as a map and directory for finding entries near you. Public votes decide the standout pizzas in each city.
The reach is impressively wide. Beyond Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga and Cartagena, participating pizzerias are scattered across 17 regions, including Villavicencio, Pereira, Ibague, Monteria, Manizales, Neiva, Popayan, Santa Marta, Armenia, Florencia and even Leticia in the Amazon. Because every restaurant brings its own recipe, the lineup differs from city to city — there's no single national menu.
A few practical notes if you want in. The fixed 22,000-peso price applies only to the designated competition pizza, so check each restaurant's listing for details and confirm opening hours, especially for busy dinner slots. The smartest strategy is to group a few restaurants by neighbourhood and plan a mini crawl rather than criss-crossing a city. The Tulio app and the official Tulio Recomienda website both list participants.
If last year is any guide, Colombians take this seriously: Pizza Master 2025 moved 368,400 pizzas in seven days and generated over 9 billion pesos (about US$2.8 million) for participating restaurants, according to figures from El Colombiano attributed to the organiser.
Why should a traveller care? If you're in Colombia during festival week, it's an easy, cheap way to eat like a local and sample a huge range of styles at one set price — and to vote on something while you're at it. Even outside the week itself, the event is a good snapshot of how lively Colombia's casual dining scene has become, well beyond the usual tourist-heavy centres.
