TWELVE INTERNATIONAL CHEFS, ONE GIANT PAELLA SHOWDOWN – AND THE WORLD’S SPOTLIGHT BACK ON VALENCIA ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20! (La Marina de València | Plaça de l’Aigua / Tinglado nº 2).
There are few things more Valencian than a paella – and once a year, the city gets to remind the rest of the planet where it all began. On Sunday 20 September, Valencia celebrates World Paella Day 2026, with the international spotlight firmly focused on La Marina, where chefs from around the world will battle it out to become the latest winner of the World Paella Day Cup. And this is no longer simply a local celebration. Since the first World Paella Day in 2018, the event has grown into an international project connecting Valencia’s rice culture with chefs, restaurants and paella lovers across the globe.
FROM VALENCIA TO THE WORLDThe central event this year is the Grand Final of the World Paella Day Cup, taking place at Plaça de l’Aigua in La Marina, next to Tinglado nº 2.
After a year of international qualifying rounds, the finalists will cook live in Valencia, bringing their own ideas, ingredients and techniques to a dish whose roots lie firmly in the Valencian countryside and the rice-growing landscape of l’Albufera. The international circuit has included qualifying events in places including Uruguay, Romania, France, Mexico, Japan, Ecuador, Switzerland, Denmark, Bulgaria and Colombia.
The 2026 final is expected to bring together 12 chefs representing countries across Europe, the Americas and Asia, turning La Marina into something resembling a giant open-air international kitchen.
Among the announced finalists are Victoria Rodríguez (Uruguay), Nivaldo Francisco de Souza (Brazil), Froilán Mújica (Mexico), Camelia Mihai (Romania), Joël Jacquet (France), Juanma Molina (Switzerland), Jimmy Holm (Denmark), Yoshimiro Mutsura (Japan), Nikolay Genchev (Bulgaria), Juan Esteban Ramírez (Colombia) and Daniel Tylor (United Kingdom). There has been some inconsistency in published lists concerning the twelfth finalist, so ’24/7 Valencia’ would recommend checking the official World Paella Day announcement before publishing a definitive full list.
WATCH THE PAELLA BATTLE LIVEThe final isn’t tucked away inside a restaurant for a handful of gastronomic VIPs. It is open to the public, allowing visitors to watch the chefs cooking in real time and experience the atmosphere surrounding one of Valencia’s greatest culinary exports.
The official programme places the main activity around 10:00–17:00, with the cooking competition and live coverage taking place during the day. A giant screen will allow visitors to follow the competition, while the event itself combines cooking with music, Valencian products and plenty of opportunities to eat.
And there is an important detail for hungry spectators: Visit València has announced paella portions for €5 and drinks for €2 at the Tinglado nº 2 bars from midday.
In other words, this is one World Paella Day where you don’t have to limit yourself to looking at the photographs.
PAELLA + MUSIC + LA MARINA + THE MEDITERRANEANThe atmosphere is intended to be much more than a cooking competition. Visitors can expect food, music, local products and the inevitable festival atmosphere that appears whenever Valencians gather around a paella.
There will also be a photocall, giant-screen coverage of the final and an opportunity to sample different rice dishes.
For those who cannot make it to La Marina, the competition can also be followed online via the official World Paella Day website.
WHERE PAELLA BEGANWhat makes World Paella Day particularly appropriate in Valencia is that the event is not simply celebrating a recipe. It is celebrating the landscape and culture which produced it.
The l’Albufera rice fields, the huerta, local produce, water, wood fire and the Mediterranean climate are all part of the story behind paella. The visiting finalists are being given their own immersion in this culture, including visits to the Mercado Central, the historic centre and l’Albufera, together with a technical session at Las Bairetas with rice expert Rafa Margós.
It is a clever part of the event. Before asking international chefs to reinterpret paella, Valencia gets to show them the territory, ingredients and traditions behind it.
THE BRITISH CONNECTIONThere is also a British presence in this year’s competition, with Daniel Tylor representing the United Kingdom. That seems particularly appropriate for a city which has seen paella become an increasingly familiar part of British culinary culture.
But World Paella Day isn’t really about deciding whether someone in London, Tokyo or Paris makes paella exactly like someone’s grandmother in Valencia.
Quite the opposite.
Its deliberately international philosophy is summed up by the idea that “the world speaks paella” – allowing different cultures to develop their own interpretations while maintaining Valencia as the dish’s point of origin.
And that is perhaps the real reason World Paella Day has become so successful.
FAST FACTS
WHAT: World Paella Day 2026 / World Paella Day Cup Grand Final
WHEN: Sunday 20 September 2026
WHERE: Plaça de l’Aigua, La Marina de València, beside Tinglado nº 2
FINALISTS: 12 international chefs
PUBLIC: Yes – open to the public
FOOD: Paella portions from €5; drinks from €2 at the Tinglado nº 2 bars
LIVE COMPETITION: Approximately 10:00–17:00
ONLINE: Streaming via worldpaelladay.org
24/7 VALENCIA VERDICT
Forget the arguments about whether your favourite paella should contain this, that or the other.
On 20 September, Valencia gets the chance to do something rather more interesting: let the rest of the world argue about it.
And while they are arguing, we can get on with eating it.
Report by ’24/7 Valencia’ team
Article copyright ’24/7 Valencia’
LA MARINA DE VALÈNCIA SUNDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2026
WORLD PAELLA DAY
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