Cilento Etno Festival

A cultural crossroads in the heart of Cilento

The Cilento Etno Festival is a summer event that transforms Torre Orsaia, a small town in the Province of Salerno, into a meeting point for the music, languages, and memories of the Mediterranean. For two consecutive evenings, Piazza Lorenzo Padulo becomes an open-air stage where ethnic music and folk traditions engage with contemporary issues through a format that blends concerts, meetings, and in-depth discussions.

Ethnic music as storytelling

The festival's artistic direction is intentionally eclectic: alongside performers of Southern Italian traditions, international voices take the stage, treating the folk repertoire not as a museum piece, but as a living language. In the 2025 edition, the audience enjoyed Le Radici Sonore del Sud (The Sound Roots of the South) by Peppe Cirillo, followed by a concert from Israeli singer Noa: two distinct ways of narrating belonging and travel, roots and horizons.

Beyond concerts: debates, presentations, and workshops

The organizers describe the event as a crossroads of cultures, a stage for ethnic and traditional music, and a lively laboratory of ideas. Each evening is accompanied by debates, presentations, and workshops that involve the public before and after the performances; in 2025, the dialogues with artists were moderated by journalist Grazia Serra, who guided spectators through the musical journey of the two nights.

A festival that speaks of peace

The theme of peace and coexistence between cultures runs throughout the festival. In Torre Orsaia, in July 2025, Noa paused her concert to listen to the bells ringing for peace: an episode picked up by local and national press, which became the festival's most iconic image and the most effective summary of its spirit.

Organizers

The Cilento Etno Festival is born from the collaboration between public entities and local associations:

• Gruppo Eventi, which handles the conception and production of the festival
• Municipality of Torre Orsaia
• Chamber of Commerce of Salerno
• Fenailp Salerno

The event offers free admission, a choice that has made the festival a community gathering rather than an event reserved solely for world music enthusiasts.

Torre Orsaia, the Bussento, and the Cilento hinterland

Torre Orsaia is located in the hinterland of the Gulf of Policastro, in the part of Campania included in the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park. It is a land of hillside villages overlooking the Bussento valley, just a few kilometers from the sea: here, the folk repertoire is not postcard folklore but shared memory, and the festival uses this as its starting point, celebrating the musical and rural identity of Cilento.

When it takes place

The event is traditionally held in the second half of July, with performances starting around 9:30 PM, when the evening temperature makes staying in the square pleasant. At the moment, the official dates for the 2026 edition have not yet been published: it is advisable to follow the channels of the Municipality of Torre Orsaia and Gruppo Eventi, which usually announce the program and guests in the weeks leading up to the event.