Curti Chestnut Festival

The oldest chestnut festival in the Picentini area

For nearly half a century, in mid-October, the Curti Chestnut Festival has drawn thousands of visitors to the small village of Curti, a hamlet of Giffoni Valle Piana in the province of Salerno, in the heart of Campania. It is considered the oldest event dedicated to the chestnut in the Picentini Mountains area: in October 2025, the festival celebrated its 49th edition, nearing its fifty-year milestone.

This is no ordinary village fair: the festival is a matter of identity, organized by volunteers from the Pro Curti Association, who every year bring back three days of traditional cuisine, folk music, rural heritage, and hospitality within a maze of alleys, courtyards, and stone stairways.

Curti, the highest hamlet in the municipality

Curti is the highest hamlet in the municipality of Giffoni Valle Piana, overlooking the chestnut groves that have defined the landscape of the Salerno hinterland for centuries. This location, right at the edge of the woods, explains why the chestnut has always been the pillar of the local economy and cuisine. During the festival, the fruit returns to the center of village life, and residents open their doors to visitors.

Chestnuts in every form

The culinary route winds through the village streets, with stands typically opening at 7:30 PM and also serving lunch on Sundays. Dishes featured in recent editions include:

• Roasted chestnuts prepared on the spot, the timeless classic of the event;
• Pasta with chestnuts and pasta alla boscaiola;
• Bean soup, a traditional peasant dish;
• Roast pork served with a chestnut sauce;
• Sandwiches with broccoli and sausage, lardo bruschetta, grilled caciocavallo cheese, and pizzas;
• Traditional desserts: calzoncelli filled with chestnut cream and castagnacci, best enjoyed with local red wine.

Folk music, brigands, and re-enactments

Evenings are marked by live concerts, with a strong focus on Campanian folk music and traditional repertoires. Over the years, the stage has hosted tammurriata groups, folk-rock bands, and dance orchestras. Alongside the music, there are historical re-enactments and street theater, featuring costume parades dedicated to Southern Italian brigandage, flag-waver performances, and storytelling moments that recount the village's past.

Museums and exhibitions within the village

One of the elements that distinguishes the Curti festival from other food and wine events in the province of Salerno is the exhibition component, set up in the houses and spaces of the village. In recent editions, visitors have been able to explore the Museum of Ancient Curtician Civilization, featuring tools and objects of rural life, a historical photo exhibition about the village and its inhabitants, and an exhibit dedicated to the brigands. On Sunday mornings, a guided tour of the village is also available with guides from Visit Picentini.

When it takes place and how it works

The event usually takes place over a long weekend in mid-October, from Friday to Sunday, with stands opening in the evening and closing around midnight. On Sunday, the program begins in the morning and continues through lunch. Because the village is small and the streets are narrow, the organizers provide a free shuttle service from the valley floor—the most convenient and essentially mandatory way to reach Curti during peak evenings.

A reason to discover Giffoni Valle Piana

Giffoni Valle Piana is known throughout Italy for its children's film festival hosted at the Cittadella del Cinema, but its municipal territory is above all a gateway to the Picentini Mountains Regional Park, filled with ancient villages, springs, and hiking trails. Visiting the festival in October also means seeing the chestnut groves during the harvest season and understanding how much the chestnut has mattered—and still matters—to the economy of this part of Campania.