Airola City — Anniversary of the City Title

A city by royal decree

In Airola, in the Province of Benevento, the end of August has always been tied to a specific date: 1754, the year Charles of Bourbon granted the town the title of City via royal diploma. The sovereign had personally passed through the area with Queen Amalia, and the recognition was awarded for a multitude of reasons proudly listed in documents of the time: the ancient glories of the Samnites, the perennial water of the Fizzo springs made available to the Royal Palace of Caserta, the six thousand inhabitants including jurists, doctors, and notaries, the monasteries and thirty churches, and finally the weekly markets and the annual San Lorenzo fair, where wool, silver, gold, and all kinds of goods were traded.

This history inspires the event that the Pro Loco of Airola organizes every year in late August with the Municipality of Airola: a civic festival that has taken on different names over time—from the Ancient Fair of the Kingdom of Naples to exhibitions dedicated to the anniversary of the City title—but which always retains the same structure, blending history, popular traditions, and local cuisine.

What happens during the festivities

The historic center becomes the natural stage for the event. Corso Montella and the nearby squares host stalls, stages, and exhibitions, while Palazzo Montevergine, the 17th-century building that now houses municipal offices, is the usual venue for more formal moments: conferences, book presentations, and round tables on local history and the relationship between the Valle Caudina and the Bourbon court.

• Costumed re-enactments: processions and living tableaux that reconstruct the 18th-century granting of the title, with period Neapolitan costumes handmade by local associations.
• Folk music and concerts: traditional Campanian folk groups, marching bands, chamber ensembles, and lighter evening performances open to the public.
• Conferences and exhibitions: events dedicated to Caudine agriculture, the Carolino Aqueduct, and the costumes and history of the region.
• Food and wine stalls: local valley producers, street food, and evening outdoor tastings.
• Excursions and visits: walks on the trails of Taburno and Partenio, and visits to the churches and sites of interest in the valley.

Valle Caudina on the plate

The culinary aspect is not just a side note: it is one of the reasons the festival attracts visitors from all over Campania. In recent editions, the event has expanded into a true street food festival, with Italian and international chefs alongside the valley's farms—offering wines, extra virgin olive oil, vegetables, meats, and preserves—representing the Caudine supply chain. It is a contemporary way to reinterpret the agricultural and craft fair that, in the Kingdom of Naples, made Airola a hub for the entire area.

Airola, Vanvitelli, and the Fizzo springs

Visitors arriving for the festival discover a town with much to tell even outside the official program. The Church of the SS. Annunziata preserves a facade in the Vanvitellian style, and nearby are the Fizzo springs, the hydraulic heart of the Carolino Aqueduct designed by Luigi Vanvitelli to supply the Royal Palace of Caserta: a historical bond that Airola proudly claims and which has brought musical events dedicated to Vanvitellian heritage to the town over the years. The Monastery of San Gabriele Arcangelo and the castle on the Monteoliveto hill complete the picture.

When and where

The event traditionally falls in the final days of August, around August 30th, the date of the royal diploma, and can extend into the first days of September. In 2025, the festivities for the 271st anniversary took place from August 29th to 31st on Corso Montella; in 2024, for the 270th, the festival occupied four evenings in Piazza Caduti di Nassiriya. Admission to the evenings and exhibition areas has always been free: you only pay for what you consume at the stalls.

Why it's worth an evening

It is not a national-scale blockbuster event, and that is exactly its value: it is the festival with which a town of just over eight thousand inhabitants remembers its promotion to 'City' and opens its streets to outsiders. Between an 18th-century procession, a plate of Caudine products, and a concert under the lights of the main street, you understand what the Valle Caudina means to inland Campania.