Festa Contadina

When the threshing floor comes back to life

For two days at the end of July, the Sturno PIP Zone stops being an industrial area and becomes a threshing floor just like those of sixty years ago. The Festa Contadina is a re-enactment of Irpinian rural civilization, centered around a precise ritual: wheat threshing, performed before the public using a historic threshing machine set up on-site. This is no static museum display, but real work, complete with dust, the noise of belts, and the scent of straw filling the air.

Senatore Cappelli wheat, the absolute star

The wheat being threshed is no coincidence: it is Senatore Cappelli, a durum wheat variety selected in the early 20th century that has recently become a symbol of the return to ancient seeds. Watching it go from sheaves to grain in just a few minutes, right before everyone's eyes, is the most photographed moment of the event; the organizers repeat the demonstration every day of the festival so that no one misses out.

Vintage farm machinery and tractor parade

A true exhibition of vintage and modern agricultural machinery is set up around the threshing floor, arriving from all over Irpinia from the morning of the first day. On Sunday, the gathering sets off: the tractor parade travels through the local districts—Crocevie, Pantanello, Caprara, Aia del Gallo, and the center of Sturno—turning the festival into a procession that winds through the town and engages those watching from their doorsteps.

Irpinian peasant cuisine

In the evening, guests dine under the lights, enjoying traditional peasant dishes served by volunteers. The menu reflects the humble cuisine of Irpinia, made of few raw ingredients and a wealth of memory. In recent editions, the Sunday morning peasant breakfast, featuring homemade bread, patane scaorate, and peparuli fritti (fried peppers), has become one of the most anticipated appointments. Tastings are accompanied by live music, with local bands playing traditional folk and dance repertoires.

A festival designed for families

Sunday afternoon is dedicated to children, with an area reserved for games, inflatables, a puppet theater, cotton candy, and popcorn. This is what makes the Festa Contadina an intergenerational event: grandparents recognize the tools they once worked with, while their grandchildren discover them for the first time.

• Exhibition of historic and contemporary agricultural machinery
• Senatore Cappelli wheat threshing with a vintage thresher
• Tractor gathering and parade through the districts
• Tastings of traditional peasant dishes and rustic breakfast
• Live music and children's entertainment

Sturno, Irpinia, and the memory of the land

Sturno is a town of just over three thousand inhabitants in upper Irpinia, in the province of Avellino, overlooking the Ufita Valley and surrounded by arable fields that have shaped the local economy for centuries. In Campania, where tourism often focuses on the coast, events like this restore the inland, agricultural face of the region. The Festa Contadina is not imported folklore: it is a staging of what was truly done in Sturno, when harvesting and threshing marked the year and the entire village gathered on the threshing floor.

Who organizes it

The event is managed by the 'Il Casale' Cultural Association, which has made it its signature identity event, with the patronage of the Municipality of Sturno and the collaboration of local farmers and volunteers. Entry to the area and participation in the demonstrations do not require reservations; for information on schedules and tastings, it is best to follow the association's social media channels, where the poster with the full program is published every year.