Festa della Musica in Poggiomarino (Longola Park)

A European festival in the town of Poggiomarino

On June 21st, the day of the summer solstice, the Festa della Musica lights up hundreds of Italian and European cities with widespread, free concerts open to everyone: professionals, amateurs, and music students alike. In Poggiomarino, a town in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, the event has found an exceptional home in recent years: the Longola Archaeological and Naturalistic Park, where live music engages in a dialogue with one of Europe's most important prehistoric sites.

In Italy, the event is coordinated by the AIPFM (Italian Association for the Promotion of the Festa della Musica), under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture and the European Commission. Every city and association registers its events on the national calendar, which in the most recent edition exceeded 1,500 appointments in over 700 municipalities. Poggiomarino is among them, with its intimate and deeply identity-driven character.

Longola, an unparalleled stage

The park on Via Longola preserves the remains of a Bronze Age riverine village, discovered in 2000 along the Sarno river: a settlement built on artificial islets connected by navigable canals, now returned to visitors with reconstructed huts and nature trails. Playing here at sunset means listening to music in a place that tells three thousand years of history in the Sarno Valley.

The site is managed and brought to life by the Gruppo Archeologico Terramare 3000, an association founded in Poggiomarino in 2003 to protect and promote the archaeological, historical, and environmental heritage of the valley, and also the promoter of the Archeofestival. In June 2026, the park was struck by severe arson attacks that destroyed the information point, educational workshops, and much of the wooden structures. The community's response was immediate, with public demonstrations and cultural revival initiatives in the following weeks.

The 2025 edition: the crafts of music

On June 21, 2025, the evening at Longola took place under the national theme The Crafts of Music, dedicated to the professions that revolve around the musical world. The artistic direction was entrusted to maestro Serena Della Monica of the Free Sound School, with a program built almost entirely on young emerging talents from the Vesuvius area and beyond: singer-songwriters, vocalists, pianists, musical theatre performers, and youth ensembles with dozens of young people on stage.

2026: the voice of places

The 32nd Italian edition, on June 21, 2026, had as its leitmotif The Voice of Places, dedicated to choirs and the uniqueness of territories. For Poggiomarino, the national calendar recorded a morning appointment tailored for children, the SIIMUS Music Awards with the project L'Isola che non c'è (The Island That Isn't There), designed for the 0-6 age group: a sign of the educational vocation that the Festa della Musica has taken on in this town.

A festival for young people and families

• Free admission, in line with the original spirit of the event
• Space for emerging artists and local music schools
• Youth ensembles and educational projects for children
• A unique open-air setting, between archaeology and river nature
• Direct connection with the European Fête de la Musique circuit

Why it's worth attending

The Festa della Musica in Poggiomarino is not a massive festival for thousands of spectators: it is a community evening where the town recognizes itself in its archaeological site and transforms it into a stage. For those visiting the Vesuvius area, perhaps after a day in Pompeii or on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, it is an opportunity to discover a place off the beaten path of mass tourism and to listen, for free, to the emerging musical scene of Campania.