Fusillo and Porchetta Festival

An August festival in the heart of Irpinia

The Fusillo and Porchetta Festival is one of the most anticipated gastronomic events of late summer in Montoro, a town in the province of Avellino, Campania. It takes place in the Sant'Eustachio district, within the Parco del Sole, a well-equipped green space that transforms into a large open-air dining room for a few nights. The format is the classic Irpinian festival style: long tables, food stalls managed by local volunteers and staff, a focused but well-executed menu, and a crowd that arrives on foot from nearby homes or by car from the surrounding Irno Valley and Avellino area.

Montoro fusilli, handmade pasta

The dish that gives the festival its name is the fusillo, a long pasta hand-rolled around a thin metal rod, typical of this part of Campania. This is not industrial pasta: the process requires time and skilled hands, which is why the fusillo remains tied to festive occasions and Sunday family meals. At Parco del Sole, it is served in several versions that have become true classics of the event over the years:

• Fusilli al Parco del Sole, the festival's signature recipe;
• Fusilli alla montorese, with traditional local seasoning;
• Fusilli with sausage and porcini mushrooms, the heartiest dish of the evening.

Porchetta and other stall specialties

The other star is the porchetta, slow-roasted and served either as a portion with fries or in a sandwich with custom toppings. Surrounding these two staples is a menu that in recent editions has also included grilled and fried caciocavallo cheese, sausage with mushrooms, traditional Neapolitan desserts like sfogliatella, as well as drinks and beer. Glasses are filled with Irpinian DOC wines, mostly reds, and the rustic fruit wine that some stalls offer as a lighter alternative.

Parco del Sole, the heart of the event

The choice of Parco del Sole is no coincidence. The venue offers ample parking and a children's play area, two features that have made the festival family-friendly: while the little ones play, adults can sit at the tables without rushing. The area is flat and accessible, and the layout of the stalls allows visitors to move between food stations without endless queues, even on the busiest weekend nights.

Schedule and atmosphere

The event typically spans five consecutive days in the second half of August. The stalls open in the evening, around 7:30 PM, and remain active until late at night; the final day, Sunday, usually includes a lunch opening. It is a rhythm designed for August temperatures, when the valley cools down only after sunset and outdoor evenings become truly pleasant.

Montoro, land of copper onions and peasant cuisine

Montoro was established in 2013 from the merger of Montoro Superiore and Montoro Inferiore and is best known for its copper onion (cipolla ramata), an iconic product celebrated by other local initiatives. The Fusillo and Porchetta Festival is part of a particularly rich summer calendar that touches all the town's districts, perfectly reflecting how central peasant cuisine remains to the identity of this territory at the foot of the Picentini Mountains, halfway between Avellino and Salerno.

Why it's worth a visit

Visitors here won't find a flashy spectacle or a staged tourist trap: they will find a local village festival with popular prices and generous portions, where the value lies in the quality of the handmade pasta and the conviviality. It is the most direct way to taste fusilli just as they are prepared in Montoro homes and to understand why, in these parts, August is the month when you eat best.