Gallo Matese Bean Festival

A festival in the heart of the Matese

The Gallo Matese Bean Festival is a young gastronomic event that brings the August evenings to life in Gallo Matese, a tiny village of about 400 inhabitants in the Upper Caserta area of the Caserta province. Surrounded by the peaks of the Matese massif and overlooking the lake of the same name, the village opens its illuminated alleys to celebrate the product that defines it most: the native bean grown on these plateaus.

The Gallo Matese bean, a native treasure

The undisputed star of the festival is the Gallo Matese bean, a small white legume with a thin skin and delicate flavor, recognized as one of the Traditional Agri-Food Products (PAT) of Campania. It grows on the Matese plateau, in the municipalities of Gallo, San Gregorio, and Letino, where it is still sown in May alongside the corn that supports its climbing vines, without the need for irrigation. The harvest, strictly manual, takes place in August. The local community has long been working to obtain the European PDO label, protecting a cultivation method passed down through generations.

Flavors and specialties

During the evening, the Pro Loco stands offer the bean in its most authentic preparations: soups and stews with wild herbs and potatoes, or served with frattaccio, the traditional polenta that is cooled and cut into pieces. Alongside the legume, there are many other village kitchen specialties, offered at affordable prices in a warm, convivial atmosphere.

A festival born from the community

The first edition, held in August 2025, was organized by the Gallo Matese Pro Loco and attracted hundreds of people to the narrow streets of the historic center, including many foreign visitors—often children and grandchildren of emigrants returning to their ancestral home. More than just a simple food festival, the event has become a moment of gathering and identity pride for a small mountain village that relies on its bean to promote the local area.

Gallo Matese and its surroundings

Located at an altitude of over 800 meters on the border with the province of Isernia, Gallo Matese is the gateway to a territory of great natural value, filled with forests, pastures, and the evocative Lake Matese. Visiting the village during the festival means discovering the inland, Apennine side of Campania, far from the beaten path, where gastronomy still tells the story of rural communities.