La Notte della Taranta - Martignano Stage

La Notte della Taranta in Martignano

Every summer, La Notte della Taranta, Italy's largest festival dedicated to folk music, turns Salento into a long, collective ritual of pizzica and tradition. Before the famous final Concertone in Melpignano, the Traveling Festival visits about twenty squares across Salento, and one of the most evocative stops is Martignano, a small Griko town in the province of Lecce, Puglia. For one night, Piazza Palmieri, known as the village's most beautiful square, fills with tambourines, violins, accordions, and voices, with free admission until late at night.

Martignano, a Griko village in Grecìa Salentina

Martignano is one of the nine towns of Grecìa Salentina, a linguistic island in southern Salento where Griko—an ancient Hellenic-origin language passed down through songs and daily speech—is still preserved. It is the smallest town in the area by size, yet it houses a compact and well-kept historic center, complete with courtyards, underground oil mills, and the scenic Piazza Palmieri. This Griko identity makes the Martignano stop particularly authentic: here, pizzica is rooted in a community that has made its music and language a heritage to be protected.

The Traveling Festival and the Melpignano Concertone

The Martignano stop is part of the Traveling Festival circuit, which visits about twenty Salento towns each year, bringing pizzica and its various influences to the public squares. These traveling evenings are all free and open to everyone, culminating in the massive final Concertone in Melpignano, which draws hundreds of thousands of spectators. The event is organized by the La Notte della Taranta Foundation in collaboration with the local municipalities, including Martignano.

The 2026 Edition: "The Paths of the Mediterranean"

The twenty-ninth edition of the festival focuses on the Mediterranean as a meeting place for peoples, cultures, and histories—a sea crossed by centuries of migration and exchange. The 2026 Maestro Concertatore is Ermal Meta, an artist of Albanian origin who grew up in Bari and authentically embodies this theme. The final Concertone is scheduled for Saturday, August 22, 2026, in Melpignano, with guests including Alessandra Amoroso, Levante, Sayf, and Welo; the Martignano stop is confirmed for Thursday, August 13, 2026. The detailed program for the Martignano evening 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, an ancient dance linked to tarantism that has become a global symbol of Salento. The traveling evenings feature groups and singers from the Salento folk tradition, alongside moments of storytelling and local discovery. The audience dances together in a choral embrace that unites residents, tourists, and enthusiasts from all over Italy and abroad, making it one of the most defining experiences of the Apulian summer.

Why experience the Martignano stop

• Free admission in the charming Piazza Palmieri
• Authentic atmosphere in one of the Griko villages of Grecìa Salentina
• Pizzica, folk music, and guided tours of the village's heritage
• A taste of the grand collective ritual that culminates in the Melpignano Concertone