Pizza City Fest is back on the L.A. LIVE event deck this weekend, April 25-26, pulling in 40 Southern California pizzerias for two afternoons of demos, panels and dessert. Now in its fourth year, the festival promises slices across styles, from Detroit and New York to Neapolitan, tavern and more, with several newcomer shops sharing space with established names. Speakers and chefs will be on hand to share home-baking tricks and sign books. For locals, it is a rare chance to taste far-flung SoCal pies without the usual freeway crawl.
As reported by LAist, the lineup stretches across Orange County, the Inland Empire, the San Fernando Valley, the Westside and Santa Barbara and includes 11 first-time vendors. LAist highlights Colossus (Long Beach and San Pedro), which has been praised in the Los Angeles Times for its sourdough crust, and newcomer mobile concepts like PiiZaa, which will be serving a bánh xèo-inspired pizza. Regional mainstays such as Pizzana, Prime Pizza and Prince St. Pizza round out the roster, giving the festival a cross-section of SoCal styles.
Lineup, Demos and Who’s Speaking
L.A. LIVE lays out the schedule on its event page. Saturday’s "The Dough Whisperers" panel at 2 p.m. features Nancy Silverton and Aaron Lindell, followed by a home-baker masterclass and a Silverton book signing, while Sunday includes a 2 p.m. backyard-oven demo from Daniele Uditi of Pizzana. The venue notes that each day runs 1-5 p.m. and that panels, demos and book signings run alongside pizza service from the participating vendors. Because pizzas will be baked to order on a mix of ovens, attendees can expect fresh pies throughout each session.
Tickets and What They Cover
Ticketing details differ depending on the seller. LAist and the venue list general admission at about $99 per day and VIP at about $199, with tastings, beverages and desserts included, while the festival’s ticket page shows GA at $95 and VIP at $175 and describes included "fest-sized" slices for some ticket types. Both the venue and the organizer emphasize that panels, demos and desserts are part of the package in addition to pizza. Buyers should confirm final price and inclusions on the ticketing page they use when purchasing.
Why This Matters
Steve Dolinsky, the festival’s founder and a multiple Emmy and James Beard award-winning food reporter, has expanded Pizza City Fest into a three-city operation that now includes Chicago and Nashville as well as Los Angeles, a growth the venue highlights on its event page. The L.A. edition is curated to show how Southern California’s pizza identity is pluralist, with artisan sourdough makers, tavern traditions and hybrid truck concepts all sharing the same footprint. For many smaller shops, the downtown festival is a high-visibility way to introduce their pies to new audiences and visiting food writers.
Pizza City Fest runs Saturday and Sunday, April 25-26, from 1-5 p.m. on the L.A. LIVE event deck at 800 W. Olympic Blvd. in downtown Los Angeles, with parking and transit guidance available on the venue site. Local previews and what-to-expect rundowns appear at NBC Los Angeles, while national outlets including the New York Post have also run previews of the event.
