Carnival Festival (Piazza Convento)

A town square Carnival in the heart of Avella

The Carnival Festival in Avella, a town in the province of Avellino, Campania, is one of those events that doesn't need massive floats to be a success: a square, children in costumes, and a few hours of music are all it takes. The event takes place in Piazza Convento, also known as Piazza Municipio, in the town center, and is promoted by the S. Sebastiano - Maria SS. delle Grazie Patronal Feast Committee with the patronage of the Municipality of Avella. The formula is typical of an Irpinian town festival: free admission, open-air space, and activities specifically designed for families with young children.

How the day unfolds

In the 2025 edition, the festivities kicked off at 10:00 AM and filled the entire morning, turning the square into a giant playground. According to official communications from the Committee and the Sistema Irpinia portal of the Province of Avellino, the program included:

• Musical games and entertainment for children in costume;
• Bouncy castles set up in the square;
• Face painting, with artists available for the little ones;
• Popcorn and cotton candy offered for free to all children present;
• Other entertainment activities led by the Committee's performers.

There are no tickets or reservations required: you simply arrive at the square, join in, and stay as long as you like. The event is noted for being fully accessible, a detail not always guaranteed for local square events.

Avella and the great Irpinian carnival tradition

The Committee's Carnival Festival is not an isolated event: in Avella, Carnival is a true cultural season. In the period leading up to Lent, the town hosts popular performances of 'A Zeza, I Mesi, and the Laccio d'Amore, all included in the Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Campania.

• 'A Zeza is a piece of popular sung theater, accompanied by castanets, triccheballacche, and tambourines; the performance is conducted exclusively by men in disguise and culminates in wild tarantellas that involve the audience.
• I Mesi is the song of the twelve months of the year, a dialogue in verse between characters embodying the seasons and agricultural tasks.
• The Laccio d'Amore is a dance performed around a pole with colorful ribbons, widespread in the Vallo di Lauro and Baianese areas: like the Majo tree ritual, it represents fertility and abundance.

Those arriving in Avella for the children's festival find themselves immersed in a much broader context, where dressing up is not just fun, but a piece of rural memory.

The Patronal Feast Committee, the engine of Avella's celebrations

Organization is handled by the S. Sebastiano - Maria SS. delle Grazie Patronal Feast Committee, the same association that manages the festivities for the patron saint San Sebastiano Martire in January—along with the emotional Majo tree-cutting ritual—and the celebrations in honor of the Madonna delle Grazie. In this calendar, the Carnival in Piazza Convento is the lightest moment, dedicated entirely to childhood: a way to keep the square alive even outside of major religious holidays.

Avella, between Roman amphitheaters and hazelnuts

It is worth arriving a few hours early. Avella preserves a remarkable Roman amphitheater, famous monumental tombs, the ruins of the castle, and the Grotta di San Michele, in addition to the MIA immersive archaeological museum and historic buildings like Palazzo Ducale and Palazzo Baronale, which often host cultural events. The territory is also inextricably linked to the Avella hazelnut, the fruit that took its scientific name (Corylus avellana) from this corner of Irpinia and which still characterizes the local pastries and Carnival sweets today, from chiacchiere to graffe.

The 2026 edition

At the time of writing, the Committee has not released an official date for the 2026 Carnival Festival in Piazza Convento. Carnival 2026 falls in the second half of February, and traditional performances are expected in Avella during that period, but for the children's event in the square, it is best to wait for the Committee's poster, which is usually published on social media channels and the Sistema Irpinia portal a few days before the event.