Provolone Valpadana Dop challenges Venice’s bàcari in a food and wine contest

The Provolone Valpadana Protection Consortium has launched a contest featuring Provolone Valpadana Dop in an original food and wine journey among Venice’s bàcari.

For an entire week, from 14 to 20 September 2026, fifteen selected venues will compete to create an original and exclusive cicchetto, designed to showcase one of the finest products of the Italian cheesemaking tradition. A contest that combines taste, creativity and gastronomic culture, inviting Venetians and visitors to discover the city through one of its most authentic and convivial places: the bàcaro. Each venue will interpret Provolone Valpadana Dop in its own style, creating an itinerary of flavours, pairings and offerings capable of conveying both the identity of the product and that of the participating bàcari.

A journey through taste and tradition

The public will play an active role in the contest and will be able to taste the cicchetti competing at the fifteen participating bàcari, follow the itinerary via the interactive map, collect the “Taste Passport” and collect a stamp at every venue visited, vote for their favourite cicchetto via QR code, and become an ambassador for Provolone Valpadana Dop by sharing the initiative and helping to raise awareness of it. A new and engaging way to explore Venice, guided by curiosity and the pleasure of discovering ever-different interpretations of the same great product.

The contest mascot

Accompanying the public throughout the event will be Mr Provolone, the contest’s official mascot. Friendly, ironic and engaging, he will be the face of the event’s communications and will recount the journey of Provolone Valpadana Dop to Venice on social media, accompanying residents and tourists as they discover the bàcari and cicchetti taking part in the challenge.

The challenge among the bàcari

The final judgement will be entrusted for 50% to the Popular Jury and for the remaining 50% to a Technical Jury. At the end of the contest, three awards will be presented: Gold Award – Best Cicchetto with Provolone Valpadana Dop, determined by the combined vote of the two juries; Special Jury Award, awarded by the Technical Jury; People’s Choice Award, awarded based on the preferences collected through the popular vote. The winners will receive an exclusive prize depicting Mr Provolone, the initiative’s official symbol.

The online contest

The contest will be covered and updated in real time on the dedicated page, where all the information about the initiative will be available: the list of participating bàcari, the route map, voting methods, rankings and updates.

This article was translated from the original Italian version with the assistance of artificial intelligence. In case of discrepancies, please refer to the original Italian version.