La Notte della Taranta - Castrignano de' Greci Stage

La Notte della Taranta in Castrignano de' Greci

Every summer, La Notte della Taranta, Italy's largest festival dedicated to folk music, transforms Salento into a long, collective ritual of pizzica and tradition. Before the famous final Concertone in Melpignano, the Traveling Festival visits around twenty squares across Salento, and one of the most evocative stops is Castrignano de' Greci, a small town in the province of Lecce, Puglia. For one night, the streets and squares of the historic center fill with tambourines, violins, accordions, and voices, with free admission until late at night.

Castrignano de' Greci, a village of Grecìa Salentina

Castrignano de' Greci is one of the nine municipalities of Grecìa Salentina, a linguistic island where Griko, the ancient Hellenic-origin language still alive in southern Salento, has been preserved. The bond with Greco-Salento culture is etched into the town's very name and its memory, composed of songs, moroloja, and musical traditions passed down from generation to generation. The 17th-century Palazzo De Gualtieris, with its tower, stands out in the town center as the architectural heart of the village and a symbol of its history.

The Traveling Festival and the Melpignano Concertone

The Castrignano de' Greci stop is part of the Traveling Festival circuit, which visits about twenty Salento towns each year, bringing pizzica pizzica and its Mediterranean influences to the public squares. These traveling evenings are free and open to everyone, culminating in the grand final Concertone in Melpignano, before hundreds of thousands of spectators. The event is organized by the La Notte della Taranta Foundation together with the municipalities in the network, including Castrignano de' Greci.

The 2026 edition dedicated to the Mediterranean

The twenty-ninth edition of the festival focuses on the Mediterranean, a sea understood not as a border but as a millennial space of encounters, migrations, and intertwining cultures. The 2026 Maestro Concertatore is Ermal Meta, an artist of Albanian origin raised in Puglia, who authentically embodies this theme. The final Concertone is scheduled for Saturday, August 22, 2026, in Melpignano; the Castrignano de' Greci stop is included in the August Traveling Festival calendar. The detailed program for the evening, including artists and times, will be announced by the Foundation in the weeks leading up to the event.

Pizzica, folk music, and the rhythm of Salento

The heart of La Notte della Taranta is the pizzica, the ancient dance linked to the ritual of tarantism that has become a global symbol of Salento. On stage, the La Notte della Taranta Popular Orchestra alternates with historic groups of Salento tradition, singers, and musicians, alongside moments of storytelling and cultural encounters. The audience dances together in a choral embrace that unites residents, tourists, and enthusiasts from all over Italy and abroad.

Why experience the Castrignano de' Greci stop

• Free admission in the squares of the historic center
• Authentic atmosphere in a Griko village of Grecìa Salentina
• Live pizzica, folk music, and Mediterranean influences
• Often a guided tour of the historic center and Palazzo De Gualtieris before the concert
• A taste of the great collective ritual that culminates in the Melpignano Concertone