Emigrant Festival

A festival created to remember those who left

The Emigrant Festival is one of the most heartfelt identity-focused events in Sassano, a municipality in the Vallo di Diano in the province of Salerno, in the heart of inland Campania. It is neither a food festival nor a patron saint feast: it is a civic and emotional gathering designed to mend the bond between the town and the thousands of Sassanesi who, throughout the 20th century, set off for Switzerland, Germany, and countries overseas. Every year, in the height of summer, that bond is tightened once again around the village's main square.

From 2011 to today: fifteen editions

The festival was established in 2011 by the municipal administration, which chose the Ferragosto period precisely because that is when the largest number of emigrants return home for their summer holidays. The stated goal was to pay tribute to the Sassanesi who distinguished themselves abroad through their honesty and professional integrity, recognizing them as ambassadors of the town. Since then, the event has consolidated: the eleventh edition took place in 2021, and the fifteenth in August 2025, confirming a continuity that has persisted even through the difficult years of the pandemic.

What to see and hear

The heart of the festival is the voices. Over the various editions, interviews with Sassano emigrants abroad have been collected and broadcast, recounting their departures, their work, their nostalgia, and their returns. In some editions, citizens over ninety who worked outside Italy have been awarded scrolls, defined as "heroes and ambassadors of values." Other moments develop around this core:

• Open-air film screenings linked to the theme of roots and the Mezzogiorno;
• Extemporaneous painting competition through the streets and corners of the village, with an exhibition and awards ceremony;
• Conferences and book presentations on historical emigration and contemporary migration;
• Celebratory cake-cutting, a symbolic moment shared by the entire community;
• Live musical performances featuring local artists of different generations, and in some editions, a final fireworks display.

The «Call of the Roots» project

The 2025 edition was included in the «Call of the Roots» project, funded by Aretur and dedicated to enhancing the cultural and artistic identity of the territory. This framework allowed the program to expand beyond just the celebratory evening, spreading it over two days featuring cinema, art, and music. Roots tourism, after all, is now one of the main levers with which small towns in the southern Apennines try to reconnect with communities of Sassano origin abroad.

The festival venues

The natural stage for the event is Piazza Umberto I, in the historic center of Sassano, flanked by Palazzo Babino, which hosts exhibitions and screenings, and the Cine Teatro Totò, used as an alternative in case of bad weather. Walking through these spaces during the festival means crossing a village that doubles its population in summer, with families returned from abroad recognizable by their accents and car license plates.

Sassano and the Vallo di Diano

Sassano is located at an altitude of about 600 meters, overlooking the Vallo di Diano plain, a few kilometers from the UNESCO-listed Certosa di San Lorenzo in Padula, and within the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park. The municipal territory houses the famous Valley of the Orchids, one of the areas with the highest concentration of wild orchids in Europe, and is known for caciocavallo sassanese, a local gastronomic specialty. Those visiting the town in August will therefore find, in addition to the Emigrant Festival, a summer calendar full of events promoted by the Municipality and the associated Pro Loco groups of the Vallo di Diano.

The 2026 edition

The Emigrant Festival is among the events included in the joint "I Borghi dei Sanseverino in Festa" program, presented by the Pro Loco groups of the Vallo di Diano at the Certosa di Padula. As of the writing of this sheet, however, the official dates and the program for the 2026 edition have not yet been published: the Pro Loco of Sassano, renewed in the spring of 2026 under the presidency of Rosa Orlando, usually communicates the details in the weeks preceding the event. It is therefore advisable to check the Municipality and association channels before planning your visit.