Rome – Panettone Maximo 2025

Panettone Maximo 2025: November 30, the Salone delle Fontane in Rome celebrates Italy’s largest festival of leavened goods

On Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., the Salone delle Fontane at Eur will host the seventh edition of Panettone Maximo, the most important national festival dedicated to artisanal panettone.

Over the years, the event has become a must-attend event of the Christmas season. Previous editions have recorded up to 3,500 attendees, 80 tasting tables, 48 pastry shops and bakeries from all over Italy and as many as 96 panettoni cakes competing, as well as widespread media coverage in national newspapers, radio and TV.

The backdrop for the event will be the Salone delle Fontane. It is a refined rationalist location from the 1940s designed by Gaetano Minnucci, one of the most scenic exhibition spaces in the capital.

The big contest

The winning format is confirmed for 2025 as well. At the center of the event will be the great contest that sees 45 pastry shops from all Italian regions competing. A prestigious jury, composed of master pastry chefs, world champions and international food critics, will award the Best Panettone of Italy in the two main categories: traditional and chocolate. The jurors include such high-profile names as Gino Fabbri, Angelo Musolino, Claudio Gatti, Davide Comaschi, Giuseppe Amato and many other world-recognized professionals.

Alongside the competition, the public will be able to taste all the competing panettone cakes and discover a real Christmas Market & Village, full of typical holiday food and wine excellence. There will be bubbles, wines, bitters, nougats, chocolates, truffles, hazelnuts, sauces, cheeses and selected cold cuts. Unmissable show cooking, which will involve both starred pastry chefs and professionals from Italy’s best three-Michelin-star restaurants. Scheduled events include performances by Eleonora Sdino and Federico Molinari, Alessandro Pietropaoli and Luca Maira. Demonstrations by pastry chefs from Villa Crespi, Casa Perbellini, La Pergola and Atelier Moessmer will also take place.

The awards

Also back is Panettone Gourmet, the contest dedicated to chefs and pizza makers who have made the leavened tradition their own in recent years, offering creative panettone cakes for their restaurant customers. The category, governed by the rules of M.D. 2005 and 2017, will only award prizes to the top three finishers.

Several awards will be given during the day: Best Traditional Panettone, Best Chocolate Panettone, Best Gourmet Panettone, Best Packaging, Best Communication, Audience Award and Foreign Press Award.

Solidarity commitment

Finally, as every year, Panettone Maximo renews its commitment to solidarity. The panettoni donated by the pastry chefs will be delivered to the boys followed by Don Daniele Masciadri in the Albuccione area. The Italian committee of UNICEF will also be present, testifying to the social vocation of the event.