'A Zeza of Monteforte Irpino

'A Zeza, the historic Carnival of Monteforte Irpino

In Monteforte Irpino, a town in the Province of Avellino in Campania, Carnival has a specific name: 'A Zeza. This is not a simple parade of allegorical floats, but a popular sung and acted farce that the Monteforte community has passed down from generation to generation. The Zeza of Monteforte is one of the most deeply rooted in Irpinia and has held a permanent place in the town's event calendar since the post-war period.

What is the Zeza

The Zeza is a carnival sketch of Neapolitan origin, likely born around the mid-17th century and later spread throughout the towns of the Campanian hinterland. At the heart of the performance is a comic family unit: Pulcinella, his wife Zeza (a diminutive of Lucrezia), their daughter Porzia, and the suitor Don Zenobio, who aspires to the girl's hand against her father's will. The script, consisting of jokes, sung verses, and amorous skirmishes, is traditionally performed only by men, even in female roles.

The performance has no stage: it takes place in the square and along the streets, with a company that can count dozens of participants including actors, singers, musicians, and masked figures. The performers interact and sing among themselves, establishing an internal communication that the audience follows by gathering in a circle around them. It is the model of the Irpinian "square festival," which links the Zeza of Monteforte to those of Bellizzi, Capriglia, Cesinali, Mercogliano, Montemiletto, and Rotondi.

How the Monteforte Carnival unfolds

• The town procession: the company travels through the main streets of Monteforte Irpino with music and masks, stopping in the squares and open spaces of the center.
• The Zeza cantata: this is the central moment, with the performance of the farce in the town squares, including Piazza Umberto I and Piazza don Amodeo.
• The parade of Irpinian Carnivals in Avellino: every year, folk groups from the province gather in the regional capital for the great collective parade, and the Monteforte Zeza is among the protagonists.
• Events for children: afternoons of entertainment, games, music, and masked dances designed for families.

Organizers

The event is organized by the Pro Loco "Mons Fortis" of Monteforte Irpino, with the patronage of the Municipality of Monteforte Irpino. The association works all year round to promote, raise awareness, and pass on to new generations a tradition that has characterized the town's carnival festivities since the post-war period. Alongside the parades, conferences and study meetings on the anthropological significance of the Zeza have also been organized over the years. Furthermore, the project to unite the Irpinian Carnivals into a network active throughout the year, rather than just in the weeks leading up to Shrove Tuesday, originated in Monteforte Irpino.

Why it's worth visiting

The Zeza is not a show for tourists: it is a community festival where the boundary between actors and audience dissolves, and spectators almost always end up clapping in time or joining the dance. Those arriving from outside the region will find here one of the most vibrant testimonies of the peasant Carnival of inland Campania, very different from the Carnivals of allegorical floats: no large papier-mâché structures, but voices, accordions, percussion, homemade costumes, and a script that has remained the same yet always different for decades.

Monteforte Irpino and Irpinia

Monteforte Irpino (ZIP 83024) is a town of about 11,000 inhabitants located at an altitude of about 500 meters, a few kilometers from the capital, Avellino. Its name derives from the ancient Montis Fortis, and the town preserves a fabric of villages and districts that become the natural stage for the Zeza during Carnival days. Those visiting the area can combine the festival with a tour of the Irpinian hinterland, among the villages of the Partenio, the local sanctuaries, and the Campanian food and wine tradition made of DOCG wines and typical local products.