Food Experience Festival
Two days of food, local territory, and rural regeneration in the Alburni mountains
About Food Experience Festival
A taste festival in the heart of the Alburni
The Food Experience Festival takes place in Bellosguardo, a small town of just over seven hundred inhabitants nestled at an altitude of 559 meters in the Alburni mountains, in the province of Salerno, Campania. The village is part of the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park: a setting that perfectly explains the mission of the event, created to tell the story of food not as mere consumption, but as a bond between producers, processors, and those who truly inhabit the land.
From 2023 to today: the growth of an idea
The first edition was held on August 18, 2023, promoted by the Remain APS association, defined by its own founders as a free, apolitical, and non-profit group. Even then, the format combined an inaugural conference titled "Seeds of the Future" dedicated to agriculture, mechanization, and industrialization, with a food area featuring local exhibitors, accompanied by live music and a late-night DJ set.
In subsequent years, the festival became a two-day event. In 2024, on August 17 and 18, the program was spread across Corso Garibaldi, the municipal hall, and Palazzo De Philipps, featuring the "Solid Ground" conference on climate change, clay modeling and 3D printing workshops, circus shows, and fire performances. In 2025, the most discussed moment was the conference "Tourism, Culture and Sustainability in the context of food experience," which concluded with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between administrators and operators of inland areas.
Food, territory, and rural regeneration
The common thread declared by the organizers is rural regeneration: networking producers and professionals from across the province of Salerno, giving visibility to small inland farms, and proposing an alternative tourism model to the pressure concentrated on the coast. Ecotourism, wellness tourism, and cultural tourism are the watchwords with which the association showcases the excellence of the National Park and its lesser-known villages.
What to find at the festival
- Food and tasting area with exhibitors and producers from the Salerno area.
- Participatory workshops, from clay to paper, from 3D printing to sensory experiences linked to raw materials.
- Conferences and round tables with voices from the academic, medical, political, and entrepreneurial worlds.
- Art, illustration, and entertainment, with performances scattered along the village's main street.
- Live music and DJ sets accompanying the evenings until late at night.
The 2026 edition: the public becomes the protagonist
The fourth edition, announced for Saturday, August 1st and Sunday, August 2nd, 2026, marks a deliberate break from the previous format. The organizers explained that there will no longer be stages separating experts from the public, nor physical or conceptual barriers: the goal is to transform the village into an open-air creative laboratory where chefs, artisans, and enthusiasts meet as equals. The chosen claim, "We are the FEF. All of us.", perfectly summarizes the participatory spirit of the edition.
Why it's worth the trip
Bellosguardo is a destination to be reached at a leisurely pace, climbing from the Sele plain towards the Alburni. The festival offers the chance to discover a village in the Campanian hinterland at its most vibrant time of the year, with the opportunity to taste products that rarely reach big-city markets and to participate in a concrete debate on the future of inland areas. A village-scale event that, in its first editions, has already attracted over three thousand total participants.
Food Experience Festival — edition 2026
Fourth edition, August 1 and 2, 2026
The Food Experience Festival returns to Bellosguardo, in the province of Salerno, for its fourth edition, scheduled for Saturday, August 1st and Sunday, August 2nd, 2026. Compared to previous editions held in mid-August, the calendar moves to the beginning of the month.
The most significant novelty concerns the very structure of the event. The organizers have explained that they want to eliminate the distance between chefs, artisans, and the public: there will no longer be stages separating experts from spectators, nor physical or conceptual barriers. The visitor is not considered a passive recipient, but a true creative engine of the event, called upon to build the content of the two days together with others.
The village in the Alburni thus transforms into an open-air creative laboratory, where raw materials become tools for storytelling and social construction. The fourth edition continues the work of Remain APS on rural regeneration and networking producers in the province of Salerno, a theme that has accompanied the festival since its inception in 2023.
Programme Food Experience Festival 2026
As of the publication date of this entry, the organizers have released the structure of the 2026 edition but not yet the complete schedule with names and times of individual appointments. Here is what has been officially announced for the two days of August 1 and 2, 2026:
- Collective creation workshops, designed for the public to participate personally in the realization of the proposals.
- Horizontal dialogues between different generations, conceived as moments of exchange rather than frontal lectures.
- Interactive installations dedicated to the 'architecture of taste'.
- Sensory paths where raw materials become tools for narration and social construction.
- Exhibition area with local producers, which remains the gastronomic heart of the event.
The detailed program is published on the official website foodexperiencefestival.it and on the festival's social channels in the weeks leading up to the event.
Highlights Food Experience Festival 2026
- Fourth edition of the festival, scheduled for Saturday, August 1st and Sunday, August 2nd, 2026.
- Completely renewed format: no stages and no barriers between experts and the public.
- Collective creation workshops open to anyone who wants to participate.
- Interactive installations on the 'architecture of taste' and sensory paths.
- Intergenerational dialogues on food, territory, and inland areas.
- Products and producers from the province of Salerno, in the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park.
- Edition claim: 'We are the FEF. All of us.'
Prices Food Experience Festival 2026
Practical information — Food Experience Festival
How to get there
By car: from the A2 del Mediterraneo motorway, take the Sicignano degli Alburni exit, then follow provincial roads towards Petina, Sant'Angelo a Fasanella, and Bellosguardo (about 30 km from the toll booth). From Salerno, the journey takes about an hour and a half. The reference train station is Sicignano degli Alburni, while the nearest airports are Salerno-Costa d'Amalfi and Naples-Capodichino.
Where it takes place
Events are concentrated in the historic center of Bellosguardo: Corso Garibaldi for the food area and shows, the municipal hall for conferences, and Palazzo De Philipps for workshops. Everything is within walking distance; it is advisable to leave your car in the parking lots at the entrance to the village.
Tips
- At an altitude of 559 meters, August evenings can be cool: it's best to bring a light sweater.
- The village streets are sloping and partially paved: comfortable shoes are recommended.
- For accommodation, it is worth looking at the nearby Alburni municipalities and the area of Roscigno and Sant'Angelo a Fasanella, which offer farmhouses and small guesthouses.
- The program, schedule, and updates are published on the official website and the festival's social media profiles.
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Where does it take place — Food Experience Festival
Centro storico di Bellosguardo (Corso Garibaldi, Palazzo De Philipps, sala comunale)
Corso Garibaldi, 84020 Bellosguardo