Cecatielli and Grilled Pork Festival of Villa San Nicola

Forty years of cecatielli in Villa San Nicola

Every year, at the end of July, the small square of the Villa San Nicola hamlet in Cesinali, in the province of Avellino, transforms into a large open-air dining room. The Cecatielli and Beans and Grilled Pork Festival is one of the longest-running gastronomic events in Irpinia: in 2025, it reached its forty-third edition, a milestone that tells the story of over forty years of volunteer work by the Saint Nicholas of Bari Festival Committee and a community that continues to cook just as it did in the past.

This is not an event manufactured to attract tourists; it stems from the hamlet's patronal celebrations and remains the secular part of the festivities, following the procession and filling the square with chairs, tables, and the scent of woodsmoke. Those arriving from Avellino, just a few kilometers away, will find the authentic atmosphere of Campanian village festivals, where you order your dish at the stand and find a seat wherever you can.

Handmade cecatielli, the heart of the festival

The dish that gives the festival its name is a type of fresh pasta typical of the Campanian hinterland: cecatielli, worked by hand one by one, with finger pressure leaving the characteristic indentation. In Villa San Nicola, they are served in the most traditional version, with beans, following a recipe passed down by local women from generation to generation. In recent editions, the festival has highlighted the prized quarantini beans, an identity product of the Irpinian plateau recognized as a Slow Food Presidium, which gives the dish a velvety texture and an unmistakable flavor.

Grilled pork

The other half of the menu is pork roasted over charcoal, cooked on-site in front of the patrons. It is the synthesis of a peasant culture where the pig represented the family's main food reserve, and where the open-air grill was the most convivial way to share it. Alongside the two signature dishes, the stalls offer the most beloved Irpinian specialties: caciocavallo impiccato (hanging cheese), sandwiches, montanare (fried dough), graffe (donuts), and wines from the province of Avellino, a land of Fiano, Greco, and Taurasi.

Villa San Nicola, three evenings of celebration

In recent years, the festival has been included in a broader three-evening program, simply called Villa San Nicola, which alternates gastronomy and live music. Alongside the evening dedicated to cecatielli, there is a festival of Irpinian maccaronara with DJ sets and an evening of singer-songwriter music with acoustic instruments, designed for a wider audience. The formula works: the square remains full until late at night, and the hamlet, which has only a few hundred inhabitants, welcomes visitors from the entire Avellino area.

The Feast of Saint Nicholas of Bari

The root of everything is religious. The community of Villa San Nicola celebrates its patron saint, Saint Nicholas of Bari, with the traditional procession through the streets of the hamlet, accompanied by secular festivities of which the food festival is the most anticipated moment. The Municipality of Cesinali grants its patronage and the Pro Loco collaborates on the organization, but the driving force remains the neighborhood committee, made up of volunteers who knead, cook, and serve at the tables.

Cesinali and Irpinia to discover

Cesinali is a small municipality of just over two thousand inhabitants in inland Campania, nestled at the foot of the Picentini mountains, just a few minutes from the provincial capital Avellino. Its location makes it a convenient base for exploring Irpinia: the Laceno natural oasis, the Goleto Abbey, the wine-producing villages of Atripalda and Serino, and the trails of Mount Terminio. Those planning a visit during the festival days can easily combine an evening in the square with a day among wineries and nature.

Why it is worth coming

• One of the oldest food festivals in the province of Avellino, active for over forty years.
• Fresh pasta made by hand by committee volunteers, not industrial.
• Local products: Irpinian beans, caciocavallo cheese, provincial wines.
• Authentic village festival atmosphere, without tourist filters.
• Proximity to Avellino and Irpinia's food and wine itineraries.