Feast in Honor of Saint Anthony of Padua

One hundred years of devotion in Volturara Irpina

In the heart of Irpinia, where the Piana del Dragone opens up at the foot of Mount Terminio, the municipality of Volturara Irpina (Province of Avellino, Campania) experiences its most heartfelt celebration every year at the end of July: the festivities in honor of Saint Anthony of Padua, the Saint most beloved by the local community. In 2026, the occasion took on a very special significance, as the town celebrated the Centenary of the feast: one hundred years of popular faith, brass bands, lights illuminating the town center, and emigrants returning home specifically for this occasion.

The Saint's Relics from the Basilica of Padua

The symbolic event of the Centenary was the arrival of the Sacred Relics of Saint Anthony, welcomed in Volturara Irpina on Saturday, July 25, 2026, and present in the town until Monday, July 27. It is the first time in a hundred years that the Relics have left the Basilica of the Saint in Padua to reach the streets and squares of an Irpinian village directly: a reverse pilgrimage, where it is the Saint who comes to meet his people. The welcome was accompanied by brass band concerts and a solemn Eucharistic celebration, followed by thousands of faithful who arrived from the neighboring towns of the valley.

Brass bands, procession, and fireworks

The Volturara feast preserves the classic structure of the great patronal festivals of the South, where brass band music is the absolute protagonist from morning until night. The ingredients are repeated year after year and define the identity of the event:

• itinerant brass band concerts that roam the town streets from the early hours of the morning;
• the grand evening concert in Piazza Roma, entrusted to national-level brass ensembles such as the Award-Winning Concert Band «La Grande Banda del Cilento»;
• the procession with the statue of Saint Anthony that crosses the town center, followed by hundreds of faithful;
• the traditional fireworks display that closes the highlight day, in 2026 in the «Color Explosion» version;
• the artistic illuminations and stalls along the village streets.

The musical lineup: from Fred De Palma to Gaia

Alongside the religious program, the Festival Committee builds a secular lineup every year capable of attracting audiences from the entire province of Avellino, with well-known names of Italian music performing on the stage of Piazza Roma with free admission. In 2025, the final evening was entrusted to Fred De Palma with his Summer Tour; in 2026, for the Centenary, Gaia performed with her Summer Tour 2026, and Roberto Colella presented the show «Ce sta sempe na via», following the opening night dedicated to live music and DJ sets.

The exhibition «100 years of feast – Memories in snapshots»

To complete the Centenary celebrations, the photographic exhibition «100 years of feast – Memories in snapshots»: a documentary journey that, through period images and testimonies of the local people, retraces a century of faith, tradition, and community life. A precious opportunity for visitors as well, who can read the social history of a town in the Campanian Apennines, between emigration and summer returns.

Volturara Irpina, between Piana del Dragone and the Picentini Mountains

Volturara Irpina has just over three thousand inhabitants and is located at an altitude of about 620 meters, in the Picentini Mountains area, about twenty kilometers from Avellino. The town is famous for the Piana del Dragone, a vast karst basin that, according to local legend, was born from the three heads of a defeated dragon: the water disappears into the sinkhole of the Bocca del Dragone, one of the most evocative natural phenomena in inland Campania. The local gastronomy revolves around the quarantino bean, a Slow Food Presidium, and mountain cheeses, which are protagonists of other events in the summer calendar.

A feast within the Volturara Summer

The Saint Anthony festivities are the highlight of the Volturara Summer, the program built together by the Municipal Administration, the Pro Loco, the festival committees, and local associations. Surrounding the feast are the Cheesemaker's Festival, «Volturara Outdoor» with climbing and via ferrata, the traditional ascent to Montevergine on August 14, «A Ccapo a nni Monte» at the beginning of August, the Feast of the Madonnina della Piana, and, in September, the Quarantino Bean Festival. Those arriving at the end of July will find a town in full season, with the valley's accommodation facilities active and top-level hiking offerings on Mount Terminio.