Ancient Cilento Pizza Festival

Six August nights in the village of Giungano

Every year, during the first ten days of August, the historic center of Giungano—a village of just over a thousand inhabitants in the hills of Cilento, in the province of Salerno, Campania—transforms into a large open-air laboratory dedicated to pizza. The Ancient Cilento Pizza Festival, organized by the Cilentum Pizza association in collaboration with the Municipality of Giungano, began in 2007 as a local village feast and has since become one of the most popular gastronomic events in Southern Italy: in just six evenings, it attracts tens of thousands of visitors, with organizers reporting over 40,000 attendees.

The "pizza re casa", a family heritage

In the Cilento dialect, this ancient pizza is called pizza re casa, or "home pizza": it is not a pizzeria product, but the first taste that housewives would pull from the bread dough, baked to check the temperature of the wood-fired oven. It was both a ritual to bring good luck to the week's bread-making and a complete meal for the whole family. The festival restores the dignity of cultural heritage to this daily gesture, in a territory with deep ties to the Mediterranean Diet: Giungano is home to the Living Museum of the Mediterranean Diet and is part of the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park, which sponsors the event alongside the Campania Region.

Over ten historic ovens relit

The heart of the event lies in the historic wood-fired ovens of the village's old houses: over ten structures, many of which are located within family homes, are relit for the occasion and entrusted to local bakers and housewives. Visitors follow a true itinerary of taste through alleys, arches, and courtyards, guided by the scent of burning wood. The long-leavened dough is topped with essential, balanced ingredients: tomato, wild oregano, Cilento extra virgin olive oil, and local cheeses. There are also variations that tell the story of the Mediterranean, such as those featuring Menaica anchovies, a protected Cilento sea product.

The Guest Oven

Alongside the traditional ovens, a space is reserved for the Guest Oven: every night, a guest pizzaiolo—from Campania or other Italian regions—presents their own pizza style alongside the Cilento version. It is a moment of "contamination," a comparison between different schools of thought that has brought some of the most famous names in Italian pizza to Giungano over the years, featuring cooking shows and guided tastings open to the public.

Not just pizza: the cuisine of Cilento

The food stands set up along the route showcase the entire Cilento peasant cuisine, that of the cuoncio cuoncio (slow and steady), made with simple ingredients and patience:

• Lagane e ceci, the iconic dish of Cilento's humble tradition
• Handmade fusilli and eggplant-based dishes
• Goat cheeses and products from small local producers
• Zeppole and desserts prepared by the village women
• A gluten-free menu available every night

Folk music, the festival's second soul

The Ancient Cilento Pizza Festival is not just about gastronomy: each evening concludes with a free concert in the square. The lineup alternates Southern folk music—tammurriate, tarantellas, and Cilento and Salento singing—with well-known names from the Italian music scene, with a constant focus on the territory's musical roots. It is this dual identity, taste and sound, that has made the event a staple of the Cilento summer and one of the most authentic ways to experience the village.

The Giungano Award and cultural initiatives

Each edition presents the Giungano Cilentum Award, a national recognition dedicated to those who promote the culture of pizza and Mediterranean food, and hosts book presentations and meetings on the Mediterranean Diet. In recent years, digital projects have been added, such as the web series "Cumpari di Pizza" and a podcast dedicated to the recipes and stories of the housewives of Giungano.

A sustainable and accessible festival

The event is organized according to plastic-free criteria, with attention to the accessibility of the spaces and the dietary needs of visitors. Entry to the village and the concerts is free: you only pay for what you consume, with tickets available on-site or via online pre-sale.