Today is National Pie Day, and restraint is officially off the table, along with any plans to stop at one slice. Classic fruit-filled favorites, savory comfort versions and modern pie creations fill plates and bakery cases nationwide, leaving no doubt about America’s long-standing love affair with pie. The celebration gives everyone permission to give in to that devotion and reach for seconds and thirds as if the serving knife has a countdown.
Chess pie. Photo credit: Splash of Taste.
Aside from the dessert table, National Pie Day celebrates a long-running obsession that has played out on screens and stages for decades, where pie became a reliable source of laughs and good-natured chaos. That same energy shows up at pie contests and community events nationwide, where competition, bragging rights and a little mess keep the dessert firmly rooted in American culture.
Celebrate pie in all forms
National Pie Day celebrates the full range of pies enjoyed across the country, from classic fruit-filled favorites to savory and unexpected variations. Apple pie stands as the most recognized, built around spiced apples and a flaky crust, while cherry pie brings a brighter, more tart profile. Berry pies also remain common, drawing on blueberries, strawberries, raspberries or cranberries, depending on local taste.
Beyond fruit pies like key lime pie, pies often take on mealtime roles. Savory versions borrow from familiar comfort dishes, with pastry filled in the style of cheeseburgers or traditional chicken pot pie. Vegetable-based options appear at family dinners and potlucks, including broccoli and cheese baked in a casserole-style crust. Meat-free pot pies rely on carrots, peas and potatoes held together with a thick sauce that mirrors the original.
Modern bakeries continue to broaden the category. Some introduce bold pairings such as chili with chocolate or citrus blended with olive oil. Others focus on cheese-forward pies that skip sweetness entirely.
Modern pies at bakeries
Bakeries continue to keep pie front and center by pushing familiar formats in bold directions. At Sugaree’s, the chocolate meringue pie leans into scale and balance, built with a thick handmade crust, a deep chocolate filling and a tall meringue finish that turns a single slice into a statement.
Other shops focus on contrast and texture. Peggy Jean’s Pies offers a white chocolate strawberry pie with a rich cream base topped with fresh berries, available gluten free and finished with from-scratch whipped cream. Nomadic Pies takes a seasonal approach, pairing roasted local apples with a cinnamon buttermilk custard that blurs the line between classic apple pie and a baked dessert custard.
Some bakeries lean fully into indulgence. Mixed Fillings Pie Shop serves a molten chocolate pie layered with cocoa, espresso and chunks of chocolate inside a pretzel crust sweetened with brown sugar. The result feels closer to a warm chocolate cake but still holds the structure of a sliceable pie.
Screen comedy meets pie
Pie-throwing earned its place in American comedy during the early days of silent film, when physical humor drove the biggest laughs. Without dialogue to rely on, filmmakers leaned on bold visual moments, and a pie to the face delivered instant payoff that audiences could understand at a glance.
Performers such as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton helped turn the gag into a staple of slapstick. Their films paired flying pies with fast chases and tightly timed mishaps that pushed scenes into controlled chaos. Early motion-picture techniques amplified the effect, with sped-up action making each hit land harder and faster. The result cemented pie-throwing in pop culture as exaggerated humor that still feels familiar today.
Competitive pie traditions
Pie contests across the country offer another window into how deeply baked the dessert remains in American culture, even when events do not line up with National Pie Day itself. Competitive baking draws wide participation, from home cooks to commercial kitchens, with judges focusing on technique, flavor and consistency.
One of the largest events on the calendar is the American Pie Council National Pie Championships, scheduled for April 8 and 9, 2026. The event welcomes entries across amateur, professional and commercial categories and awards top honors to standout pies from around the country.
Smaller contests often center on community causes. The Maine Culinary Festival plans a pie competition on April 19, 2026, followed by an auction that benefits the Augusta Area Back-to-School Program. In Florida, the Sebastian Rotary Club will hold The Great Bake Competition on March 22, 2026, inviting bakers to submit ready-to-serve homemade pies.
Some events favor spectacle over scoring. During the National Cherry Festival, running July 6 through July 10, 2026, an adult cherry pie-eating contest takes place at the Lay’s Cherry Blast Stage in Open Space Park. Participants race through slices without utensils, turning pie into a fast-paced crowd draw that celebrates enthusiasm as much as appetite.
Pie across American culture
Today’s celebration of National Pie Day shows how firmly pie remains part of everyday American life, well beyond holidays or special occasions. It continues to appear on home tables, in bakeries and at community events, shaped by tradition while leaving room for new ideas. The habit of serving, baking and sharing pie keeps it present across generations, not as a symbol of the past but as a dessert people still reach for again and again.
Jennifer Allen is a retired professional chef and long-time writer. Her work appears in dozens of publications, including MSN, Yahoo, The Washington Post and The Seattle Times. These days, she’s busy in the kitchen developing recipes and traveling the world, and you can find all her best creations at Cook What You Love.
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