AvellArt Festival

A festival spread across the monuments of Avella

The AvellArt Festival is not just a single event, but a full-scale summer programme promoted and organised by the Municipality of Avella, in the province of Avellino, in the heart of Campania. The format is that of a widespread festival: for over four months, from June to October, concerts, theatrical performances, cabaret nights, and jazz appointments move from place to place, occupying the city's monumental sites and squares.

This is precisely what makes the event unique: in Avella, the stage is not just any platform, but a layered archaeological heritage that includes the Roman Amphitheatre, the Longobard Castle of San Michele, and the Archaeological Park of Roman Tombs, the monumental necropolis that represents one of the best-preserved funerary complexes in Southern Italy.

The festival venues

• Roman Amphitheatre — the city's iconic monument, host to major evening concerts;
• Longobard Castle of San Michele — the setting for jazz festivals and themed evenings, with a view over the Clanio valley;
• Archaeological Park of Roman Tombs — the monumental necropolis, hosting more intimate and experimental events;
• Baronial Palace and Town Hall Square, Madonna delle Grazie Square, Convent Square — urban spaces dedicated to popular events and dance evenings;
• Domenico Biancardi Municipal Theatre — the indoor venue for plays and screenings.

A multidisciplinary programme

The programme alternates between very different styles, with the stated goal of reaching audiences of all ages. Alongside nationally renowned concerts, there is space for jazz festivals, open-air disco musical formats, auteur theatre, Neapolitan comedy, and food and wine events. In 2025, the festival hosted, among others, Alex Britti and his singer-songwriter repertoire, the «Jazz at the Castle» season, comedian Peppe Iodice, Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba in collaboration with Pomigliano Jazz, as well as Giusy Ferreri, Biagio Izzo, and writer Maurizio De Giovanni in a duo with pianists Julian Oliver Mazzariello and Ernesto Zurzolo.

Avella, the city of Abella

To understand the AvellArt Festival is to know Avella. The Irpinian town stands on the ancient Abella, an Oscan city later a Roman municipality, remembered by Virgil in the Aeneid as malifera Abella, «apple-rich Avella». The Amphitheatre, built between the end of the Republican age and the early Imperial age, could accommodate several thousand spectators and is today one of the few Campanian amphitheatres still used for live performances. Above the town rises the Castle, of Longobard origin and repeatedly remodelled in the Norman and Angevin eras.

The territory is also a land of hazelnuts: the Avella hazelnut, which owes its scientific name to the city, is the star of the autumn festival that closes the Avella event season.

A territorial development project

The festival stems from a precise strategy of the municipal administration: using live culture as a lever to raise awareness of the archaeological heritage of lower Irpinia and to extend the tourist season well beyond mid-August. Collaboration with entities such as Pomigliano Jazz and the provincial Sistema Irpinia circuit has allowed Avella to be included in a network of events involving the entire province of Avellino.

Its proximity to Naples, just over thirty kilometres away, and the direct connection with the Circumvesuviana line make the event easily accessible even from the regional capital, a factor that has significantly expanded the audience base in recent years.

When it takes place

The AvellArt Festival traditionally runs from June to October, with the bulk of the concerts concentrated between July and September. The full calendar is published every year by the official channels of the Municipality of Avella and the city's tourist information point.