Handmade Pasta Festival – Àla Chiazza
Three days of handmade pasta, art, and folk music in the historic center of ancient Volcei
About Àla Chiazza
A festival born from the hands of Buccino's housewives
The Handmade Pasta Festival – Àla Chiazza is the premier summer event in Buccino, a village in the province of Salerno, Campania, nestled on the hills overlooking the Tanagro valley and the Vallo di Diano. The dialect name «àla chiazza»—meaning «to the square»—perfectly captures the spirit of the event: for three evenings, the historic center returns to what it has always been, a meeting place where people gather outdoors, among stone alleys and ancient portals, around a plate of homemade pasta.
Established in 2023 at the initiative of the Municipality of Buccino, the festival has grown rapidly to become an event recognized far beyond municipal borders, with the support of the Campania Region and the patronage of the Province of Salerno.
Chiapparelle, queens of the table
The signature dish of the event is chiapparelle with tomato sauce and cacioricotta, a long, irregular pasta hand-rolled around a metal rod, dressed with tomato sauce and a generous grating of local cacioricotta. The recipe has obtained the De.Co., the municipal designation that protects the identity-defining products of the territory, and is prepared live by the village women during demonstrations open to the public.
Alongside the chiapparelle, the food stalls set up along the route offer the entire repertoire of the peasant cuisine of the upper Sele-Tanagro area: fresh pasta, cured meats, cheeses, baked goods, oil, and wines from local wineries. Recent editions have seen the participation of nearly twenty local pizzerias, delicatessens, bakeries, farmhouses, and cafes, each with its own offering.
Not just gastronomy: art, memory, and research
Àla Chiazza is designed as a cultural journey. Each edition inaugurates art and photography exhibitions in the village spaces—Porta Consina is a customary location for the ribbon-cutting—and proposes conferences and meetings dedicated to the history of ancient Volcei, the families who shaped the village, and the protection of intangible heritage, those domestic skills that risk disappearing with the generations that guard them.
- fresh pasta workshops with live demonstrations;
- painting and photography exhibitions in the historic spaces of the center;
- conferences on local history, archaeology, and traditions;
- traditional games and family activities in the afternoon;
- evening concerts of folk and singer-songwriter music.
Folk music as a common thread
From the beginning, the festival has chosen a musical line consistent with its vocation: pizzica, taranta, Neapolitan song, and Mediterranean singer-songwriter music. The stages set up in the historic center have hosted performers of the Salento and Campanian traditions and leading names in Italian world music, always with free admission.
Buccino, the ancient Volcei
Visiting the festival is also an opportunity to discover one of the most interesting archaeological villages in the province of Salerno. Buccino stands on the ancient Volcei, a Lucanian city that later became a Roman municipality: the Urban Archaeological Park and the National Archaeological Museum of Volcei «Marcello Gigante» preserve domus, thermal baths, mosaics, and artifacts that tell over two millennia of history. The castle and the Eremitani complex complete an itinerary that can be walked entirely on foot, through the same alleys occupied by the festival stalls.
Àla Chiazza — edition 2026
Àla Chiazza 2026: the fourth edition
From August 7th to 9th, 2026, the historic center of Buccino, in the province of Salerno, hosts the fourth edition of the Handmade Pasta Festival – Àla Chiazza, organized by the Municipality of Buccino. Three days built around a simple idea: to tell the historical roots of ancient Volcei by combining the promotion of typical dishes with artistic entertainment.
The food and wine route winds through the alleys and squares of the village, with stalls managed by local businesses and associations. Meanwhile, in the historic spaces of the village, art and photography exhibitions open, and conferences and debates on the protection of intangible heritage take place, while the housewives of Buccino hold live demonstrations of fresh pasta making.
The dish of the edition
The queen of the 2026 table is the chiapparelle with tomato sauce and cacioricotta, a culinary excellence that carries the De.Co. of the Municipality of Buccino: hand-rolled pasta, tomato sauce, and grated cacioricotta, served at stalls along the entire route.
Three evenings of music
The musical program, entirely free of charge, spans the folk tradition of the South: starting with Salento pizzica, moving through classic Neapolitan song, and closing with the Mediterranean singer-songwriter music of one of the historic names of Italian world music.
Programme Àla Chiazza 2026
Friday, August 7th, 2026
- Opening of the food and wine route in the historic center, with stalls from local businesses
- Inauguration of art and photography exhibitions in the village spaces
- 10:30 PM — Salvatore Galeanda in «Una notte con la Taranta»: pizzica and Salento rhythms with one of the leading interpreters of Salento folk music
Saturday, August 8th, 2026
- Food stalls, open exhibitions, and live handmade pasta demonstrations with the housewives of Buccino
- Conferences and debates on safeguarding intangible heritage and the history of ancient Volcei
- 10:30 PM — Napul'é, «Italy's first Neapolitan feast»: a collective celebration that reinterprets the great classics and sounds that have made Neapolitan music famous worldwide
Sunday, August 9th, 2026
- Last day of the taste route, featuring De.Co. chiapparelle with tomato sauce and cacioricotta
- Exhibitions and cultural activities in the historic center
- 9:30 PM — Eugenio Bennato, founder of the Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare and the Taranta Power movement, closes the festival with his Mediterranean rhythms and messages of peace
The program of daytime activities (workshops, traditional games, meetings) is defined by the Municipality together with local associations and businesses in the weeks leading up to the event.
Highlights Àla Chiazza 2026
- Chiapparelle with tomato sauce and cacioricotta, De.Co. dish of the Municipality of Buccino, prepared by hand by the village housewives
- Eugenio Bennato in concert on Sunday, August 9th at 9:30 PM, grand finale of the fourth edition
- Napul'é, the Neapolitan feast, Saturday, August 8th at 10:30 PM
- «Una notte con la Taranta» with Salvatore Galeanda on Friday, August 7th at 10:30 PM
- Art and photography exhibitions set up in the historic spaces of the village
- Conferences on intangible heritage and the history of ancient Volcei
- The entire festival, including concerts, is free to attend
Prices Àla Chiazza 2026
Practical information — Àla Chiazza
How to get there
By car: take the Sicignano-Buccino exit on the A2 del Mediterraneo motorway, then a few kilometers of provincial road to the center. Buccino is about 60 km from Salerno and 110 km from Naples.
By train: the reference station is Sicignano degli Alburni, on the Battipaglia-Potenza line, connected to the village by bus services.
Parking and access to the village
The historic center is pedestrianized during the event: it is best to leave the car in the parking areas on the outskirts of the village and walk up. The village streets are made of stone and are sloping; it is best to wear comfortable shoes.
Costs
Admission to the festival, concerts, and exhibitions is free. Only tastings at the food stalls are paid for, with popular prices and the possibility to freely compose your own menu.
Tips
The evenings are busiest after 9:00 PM, but it is worth arriving in the afternoon to visit the Urban Archaeological Park and the Archaeological Museum of Volcei before dinner. For accommodation, you can look at the farmhouses in the Tanagro valley and the facilities in Sicignano degli Alburni and Contursi Terme.
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Where does it take place — Àla Chiazza
Centro storico di Buccino (antica Volcei)
Centro storico, Piazza Giovanni Amendola, 84021 Buccino