Albanova Games

An open-air summer village

For two weeks every July, the Via Campo d'Isola market area in San Cipriano d'Aversa undergoes a complete metamorphosis. The usual market stalls make way for playing fields, a main stage, a food court, and various association booths. This is the Albanova Games, an event that has been uniting sports, music, and gastronomy in the heart of the Agro Aversano region, in the province of Caserta, Campania, since 2019.

The choice of venue is no coincidence: it is one of the largest and most accessible spaces in the area, perfectly suited to host tournaments, concerts, and thousands of people simultaneously. For fourteen days, the site becomes a vibrant town square, buzzing with life from late afternoon until late at night.

How it all began

The inaugural edition took place from July 15 to 28, 2019, promoted by a group of youth organizations from the Agro Aversano: the social promotion association Wake-Up, the Youth Forum of Casal di Principe, and the Fare Ambiente movement of Casapesenna, with the patronage of the Regional Youth Forum of Campania. Their goal was as simple as it was ambitious: to offer a new perspective on a region often defined only by headlines, using sports and music as tools for community building.

Over the years, the formula has been perfected. Today, the event is organized by the associations Together Aps and Generazioni Odv, and it enjoys the moral patronage of the municipalities of San Cipriano d'Aversa, Casal di Principe, and Casapesenna, as well as the Province of Caserta. Local media have reported consistent growth, with attendance figures ranging from 47,000 over thirteen days to peaks of 70,000 visitors in a single edition.

The tournaments

Sport remains the driving force of the event, with open formats, accessible registration, and teams joining just for the fun of it. Over the years, the program has featured:

• Football tennis and street soccer, the two most popular and crowded disciplines;
• Beach volleyball, played on sand courts specially set up in the market area;
• Table tennis, with tables open to all ages;
• Pickleball, the latest addition to the program;
• Outdoor wellness activities, such as sunset Pilates sessions.

Music and the food area

Every evening, once the tournaments conclude, the spotlight shifts to the stage. The lineup alternates between local bands and singers and well-known names from the Italian music scene: the 2025 edition, for example, featured Alice Caronna, I Kapafresca, Stè, Amor per la Rota, Francesco Da Vinci, Olivé, Gabriele Esposito, Lele Blade, and Mondo Marcio. Concerts are always free to attend.

Surrounding the stage is the food area, offering street food and local specialties, while information stands from various associations highlight projects and activities across the Agro Aversano. Volunteers from the Italian Red Cross provide medical assistance throughout the event.

Why it is worth visiting

The Albanova Games are a popular festival in the truest sense: free, open-air, volunteer-driven, and designed primarily for young people and families. Visitors from outside the region will find a unique opportunity to discover this part of Campania, its cuisine, and its vibrant energy in a relaxed, inclusive atmosphere.

Evenings begin in the late afternoon with tournaments and continue until late at night with concerts. This is when San Cipriano d'Aversa, Casal di Principe, and Casapesenna—the three towns that formed the municipality of Albanova between 1928 and 1946—reunite as a single community. That history is also where the event gets its name.