La Notte della Taranta – Sternatia Stop

La Notte della Taranta in Sternatia

Every summer, Salento transforms into one vast, open-air dance floor, and Sternatia—one of the most authentic and distinctive towns in the Grecìa Salentina, in the province of Lecce—serves as one of the most evocative stops on the circuit. This is where La Notte della Taranta, Europe's largest traveling folk music festival, makes its mark each year as it winds through the towns of Salento before culminating in the famous Concertone in Melpignano.

What is the traveling festival?

Founded in 1998 and organized by the Fondazione La Notte della Taranta, the festival is much more than a concert: it is a collective ritual that brings pizzica pizzica back to life, the ancient dance linked to the phenomenon of tarantism. For about three weeks between late July and August, the event brings music and dance to the squares of around twenty Salento towns, featuring free-entry evenings leading up to the grand final Concertone.

Music, tambourines, and trance in the square

In the setting of Piazza Umberto I, the heart of the town, singer-songwriters, historic Salento music groups, and marching bands take turns on stage. The relentless sound of tambourines, accordions, chitarre battenti, and voices in the Salento dialect accompany a crowd dancing the pizzica non-stop, in an embrace between generations, residents, and visitors from all over Italy and abroad. The Sternatia evening blends the local square festival with a rediscovery of the region's musical roots.

Sternatia, heart of the Grecìa Salentina

Sternatia is one of the towns where Griko, the ancient Greek-origin language of Salento, still survives, passed down for centuries among these Lecce stone houses. Experiencing La Notte della Taranta here means immersing yourself in a territory with a powerful identity, made of centuries-old olive trees, courtyards, underground oil mills, and quiet alleys that become the natural stage for pizzica in the summer. It is the perfect opportunity to discover an authentic village in Puglia, far from the main tourist flows, during one of its most vibrant nights.

Towards the Concertone in Melpignano

The stops of the traveling festival, such as the one in Sternatia, prepare the audience for the grand final Concertone in Melpignano, the event that closes every edition with hundreds of thousands of spectators. Participating in a traveling evening in the municipality of Sternatia is the best way to get to know the most intimate and popular soul of La Notte della Taranta before the grand final celebration.