Caseus - Soul and Flavors

A full day dedicated to cheese

Caseus - Soul and Flavors is the summer event that the Municipality of Sant'Angelo a Fasanella, in the province of Salerno (Campania), dedicates to the dairy tradition of the Alburni Mountains. This is no ordinary food festival: cheese is not just served on a plate, but produced live before the audience, with farmers and cheesemakers demonstrating the techniques, timing, and tools of an ancient trade. It is a deliberate choice that turns a tasting into a narrative, restoring value to the hard work of mountain stables and dairies.

Cheesemakers and farmers at work

The heart of the event is the live production. Recent editions have featured demonstrations on the artisanal preparation of caciocavallo, mozzarella, ricotta, manteca, and scamorza: watching the milk heat up, the curd separate, and the stretched-curd cheese take shape by hand. Attendees can ask questions, observe closely, and understand why every cheese has a unique texture, color, and aroma. It is a lesson in local heritage rather than just a show.

Workshops and tastings

The event program revolves around cheesemaking workshops, in-depth sessions, and tastings. In previous years, industry experts have participated, including a biologist who explained production processes and a chef who led a cooking class on pairings and using cheese in the kitchen. Alongside the dairy stalls, other local excellences from the Alburni and Cilento regions are showcased:

• honey and local beekeeping products
• artisanal jams and preserves
• organic extra virgin olive oil
• wines from local wineries
• traditional biscuits and baked goods

In the 2025 edition, seventeen farms from Sant'Angelo a Fasanella, Ottati, Salerno, and neighboring towns participated, creating a small open-air farmers' market that accompanied the tastings.

An event for the whole family

Caseus is a deeply family-oriented event. Children can enjoy educational workshops and an animal pen that allows them to get closer to rural life: touching, observing, and understanding where their food really comes from. This is one of the reasons why the event has quickly become one of the most popular in the local summer calendar.

Music and evening atmosphere

The gastronomic experience is complemented by music that extends the day into the evening. The 2025 event concluded with a piano concert dedicated to Neapolitan music, perfectly in line with the event's spirit: understated, sophisticated, and deeply rooted in Southern culture.

Sant'Angelo a Fasanella and the Alburni Mountains

Sant'Angelo a Fasanella is a village of a few hundred inhabitants perched on the southern slopes of the Alburni Mountains, within the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park, in Campania. The town is famous for the Cave of Saint Michael the Archangel carved into the rock and for a historic center filled with alleys, arches, and stone houses. Here, shepherding and dairy processing are not reconstructed folklore but a living economy, and Caseus was born to give visibility to this short mountain supply chain.

A community project

The event is promoted by the Municipal Administration in collaboration with the Pro Loco and the Alburni Outdoor association. It is part of the 2026 municipal summer program titled "Abitare l'Estate" (Living the Summer). The calendar, presented by Mayor Bruno Tierno, combines music, religious traditions, sports, and food and wine: Caseus represents its most identity-defining day in terms of flavors, alongside events like "Capo la Corte in Festa" and the Fasanella Fest.

Why it's worth the trip

Visitors to Caseus won't find an anonymous fair, but a village telling its story through its most representative product. The scale is that of a small community, the producers present themselves in person, and the late-summer atmosphere in the Alburni—with air already cooler than in the valley—does the rest. It is the perfect opportunity to combine a visit to the village, the Angel's Cave, and the Park's trails with a day of authentic taste.