Ischitana Rabbit Festival

A festival born from the rural soul of Campagnano

On June 19, 2026, the hillside village of Campagnano, a rural hamlet in the Municipality of Ischia (Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania), hosted the first edition of the Ischitana Rabbit Festival. The initiative was launched by the Il Palmento Association, with the support of the Municipality of Ischia, to highlight the agricultural heritage of one of the island's most authentic areas.

Campagnano stretches along the eastern side of the island, amidst terraced vineyards, dry-stone walls, and cellars carved into the tuff rock: a landscape that tells the story of centuries of farming, far removed from the seaside image Ischia offers in summer. The festival is designed specifically to showcase this inland Ischia, defined by vegetable gardens, wine presses, and family-inherited recipes.

Ischitana rabbit, the island's signature dish

Rabbit is the most representative dish of Ischian gastronomic tradition. For centuries, island families raised rabbits in characteristic pits carved into the tuff, a technique that allowed them to utilize steep, uncultivable land while producing particularly flavorful meat.

The classic recipe involves cooking in a tiano, a terracotta pot: browning with oil, garlic, and chili, followed by white wine, fresh cherry tomatoes, and piperna, the wild aromatic herb that grows spontaneously on the Ischian hills. The resulting sauce dresses the pasta, served as a first course, while the meat follows immediately after. Every area of the island preserves its own variation: in Barano, there is a tendency to use more tomato, while in Serrara Fontana and Piano Liguori, wine ratios and cooking times vary.

The food and wine trail

The festival is organized as a tasting trail along the village streets, with stations run by local families, chefs, and artisans. Highlights of the first edition included:

• Gnocchi with rabbit sauce prepared by the Mazzella Family
• Ischitana-style rabbit following the classic recipe, by chefs Nello Farese and Cristoforo Pascale
• Grilled rabbit, by Salvatore Farese, Umberto Mastropasqua, and Massimo Buono
• Savory croissants with shredded rabbit and pastries from Pasticceria Buono
• Wines from local Ischian labels

All dishes are made with zero-kilometer products and follow traditional rural recipes passed down orally, with some contemporary interpretations provided by island chefs.

Live music and conviviality

On the stage set up in the Via Serbatoio parking lot, the band Personal, featuring the voice of Luana Calise, and saxophonist Zeb Sax performed, accompanying the evening from the first tastings until midnight. There was also entertainment for families, with a final surprise dedicated to the star of the festival.

A record-breaking debut

The first edition was a sell-out: residents, Italian tourists, and foreign visitors flocked to the village, drawn by the chance to sample all the variations of Ischia's signature dish in a single evening. One detail perfectly captures the association's spirit: volunteers delivered the same festival dishes to the elderly and those unable to reach the village, a well-established custom for Il Palmento.

How to reach the village during the festival

To manage traffic in the narrow streets of Campagnano, organizers provided a free shuttle service from the new Fondobosso bus area, running from 6:00 PM to midnight. From 6:00 PM to 1:00 AM, access to the village for private vehicles was prohibited starting from Via Acquedotto, with exceptions for residents, emergency vehicles, and authorized shuttles.

An event destined to return

The success of the debut has solidified the idea of a permanent fixture in the island's summer calendar: a village festival in the truest sense, where home cooking, local wine, and live music tell the story of the identity of the Municipality of Ischia and, more broadly, rural Campania.