Aeclanum Beer Festival

A beer festival in the heart of Irpinia

The Aeclanum Beer Festival is one of the most anticipated summer events in the municipality of Mirabella Eclano, in the province of Avellino, in the heart of inland Campania. The event takes place at Passo di Mirabella, the hamlet stretching along the Calore Valley, in the square adjacent to the Scientific High School: a large, open-air space that transforms for three nights into a vibrant festival hub, complete with beer taps, food stalls, and a stage for live music.

With the 20th edition in 2025, the festival surpassed two decades of history, confirming itself as one of the longest-running and most popular local festivals in the area. This is not a manufactured tourist event; it is a grassroots celebration organized by a local committee of volunteers that manages to combine quality offerings with a genuinely authentic village atmosphere.

The name: a nod to ancient Aeclanum

The festival takes its name from Aeclanum, the ancient city that once stood right here, on the hills above Passo di Mirabella. Founded by the Irpini, a Samnite tribe, and later becoming an important Roman center along the Appian Way, Aeclanum still preserves an archaeological site open to visitors, featuring a macellum, a thermal complex, and various imperial-era residential units. For visitors, enjoying a beer just a few hundred meters from one of Irpinia's most significant Roman sites is an unusual and pleasant way to connect with this territory.

Beer, cuisine, and fried specialties

The heart of the event is, naturally, the beer. In past editions, the selection has alternated between great German classics and Italian craft labels, with names like Löwenbräu Urtyp, the Bavarian Ayinger Bairisch Pils, and the IPA Orifiamma from the Porta Bruciata brewery. The offering has never been just industrial beer served in bulk: the choice of taps is curated, and even the most demanding enthusiasts always find something to enjoy.

Alongside the bars is the food area, with stalls dedicated to Irpinian cuisine, street food, and above all, fried specialties—the true highlight of the festival. Over the years, local operators such as "Good Food" from Grottaminarda and "Appena Fritto" from Naples have worked at the festival, confirming a selection that looks toward Campania and beyond.

Live music

Each evening is marked by a live concert, generally around 10:00 PM, followed by a DJ set that keeps the party going until late at night. The artistic direction favors folk, rock, and Southern Italian folk music: in recent years, the stage has hosted Molotov d'Irpinia, the Tuscan band I Matti delle Giuncaie, I Malamente, as well as groups like Sud Folk, Miuzikant, and Zeketam. It is a program that showcases local bands and the Italian folk-rock scene, with a good balance between local names and guests from outside the region.

A free and accessible event

• Free admission for all recent editions
• Area fully accessible to people with disabilities
• Open-air space, also suitable for families with children during the early hours of the evening
• Food and drinks available for purchase at the beer bars and food stalls

Mirabella Eclano beyond the festival

Those who come to Passo di Mirabella for the beer often discover a town with a surprising cultural heritage. Mirabella Eclano is famous throughout Irpinia for the Tirata del Carro, a twenty-five-meter-tall obelisk made of braided straw that is pulled by pairs of oxen and hundreds of people through the streets of the center every year on the Saturday before the third Sunday of September. A ritual of thanksgiving for the harvest with roots in the agricultural cults of ancient Aeclanum, now also recounted by the Civic Museum of the Carro.

Between the archaeological site, peasant traditions, and a twenty-year-old beer festival, the municipality of Mirabella Eclano offers a fairly complete portrait of what it means to live in Irpinia today.