Carolino Festival (Montesarchio stage)

The Carolino Festival: Music along the Carolino Aqueduct

The Carolino Festival is a musical series created to showcase sites linked to the Bourbon heritage, the Carolino Aqueduct, and the Royal Palace of Caserta, all listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites. The concept is simple yet ambitious: to host high-level concerts within the monuments, squares, and villages that Luigi Vanvitelli’s work traverses, allowing music to become a lens through which to interpret the territory. In 2026, the festival reached its second edition, expanding a widespread calendar that spans the province of Caserta and the Caudina Valley.

The Montesarchio stage, in Piazza Umberto I

Among the most anticipated events on the program is the one in Montesarchio, a town in the province of Benevento, Campania, which hosts the festival in the central Piazza Umberto I. The concert takes place outdoors, just steps away from the historic center dominated by the Tower and the Castle: no barriers, an audience gathering in the square after sunset, and a program designed to be accessible even to those who do not regularly attend concert halls.

The event on July 24, 2026, featured Grechim Ortiz with the project El Camino de Alma, part of the Vanvitellando circuit. A year earlier, in September 2025, the Montesarchio stage was dedicated to jazz, also held in the heart of the town.

MaratonArt: A 38-kilometer cultural corridor

The Montesarchio date is part of MaratonArt, an integrated project selected by the UNESCO participatory enhancement call. MaratonArt builds a true cultural corridor along the 38 kilometers of the Carolino Aqueduct, from the Fizzo Springs to the Royal Palace of Caserta, passing through the Belvedere of San Leucio and the Ponti della Valle in Maddaloni. Numerous municipalities are involved: Airola, Maddaloni, Caserta, Durazzano, Moiano, Bucciano, Sant'Agata de' Goti, Montesarchio, Bonea, and San Lorenzello. Music, excursions, historical pageants, and cinema alternate throughout the year, ensuring the heritage is once again traversed and heard.

Organizers

Behind the festival is the Vanvitellando association, chaired by Roberto Stallone and founded to promote a cultural and artistic path inspired by the work of Luigi Vanvitelli. The artistic direction is entrusted to maestro Marco Stallone, a pianist from the Sannio region who chose to stay and work in his home territory: he signs the programming and often performs on stage, as he did during the inaugural concert of the first edition in the Palatine Chapel of the Royal Palace of Caserta.

The 2026 calendar: Second edition

• April 4 — Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's Stabat Mater at the Palatine Chapel of the Royal Palace of Caserta;
• June 6 — Symphonic Band at the Ponti della Valle in Maddaloni;
• June 25 — Fabio Cesare at the Belvedere of San Leucio, in Durazzano;
• July 24 — Grechim Ortiz, El Camino de Alma, in Piazza Umberto I, Montesarchio;
• July 25 and 26 — The Kla-Vier Duo, with Portuguese pianists Sònia Amaral and Patrícia Ventura, and soprano Bisong Park accompanied on piano by Marco Stallone, at Palazzo Montevergine in Airola;
• August 21 — Seta Quartet at Sala Taburno in Bucciano;
• September 5 — Symphony Orchestra at the Palatine Chapel of the Royal Palace of Caserta;
• November 7 — Caudium Film Festival, international short film festival.

Why it's worth it

The Carolino Festival focuses on the quality of the listening experience and the relationship between sound and place, rather than stadium-sized names. In Montesarchio, this means a summer evening in the square with local residents and passing visitors: an authentic cultural experience, far from the most beaten tourist circuits of Campania.

Montesarchio beyond the concert

Those arriving for the festival can spend the day visiting the National Archaeological Museum of Sannio Caudino, housed in the castle and tower overlooking the town, and enjoy a panoramic walk with views spanning the entire valley. The Sannio region offers excellent local cuisine, from regional wines—Aglianico and Falanghina above all—to cheeses and traditional peasant dishes found in the trattorias of the center and nearby villages like Sant'Agata de' Goti and Airola.