La Rosamarina of Santo Stefano del Sole

An Easter ritual that spans the entire town

La Rosamarina is the most iconic tradition of Santo Stefano del Sole, a small town in the Province of Avellino, in Campania. It is neither a food festival nor a stage show: it is a community ritual that renews itself every year between Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, involving virtually every family in town. Some prepare the branches, others play music or sing, while others open their doors to offer a glass of wine.

The 'frasche': from rosemary to fir

Originally, it was a simple gesture: gifting families a sprig of rosemary—the rosamarina in the local dialect—to season the Easter lamb. When rosemary was no longer enough for everyone, it was replaced by a fir or pine branch tied with two oranges and a lemon: a fragrant composition, a symbol of prosperity and good wishes. In the days leading up to Easter, the community gathers the branches, prepares them, and loads them onto small trucks and tractors; neighborhood leaders then distribute them throughout the districts, house by house, so that by Good Friday morning, the entire town is decorated. The branch is displayed on the highest balcony of the house: it is the signal that tells the musicians where to stop.

Tammorre, triccheballacche, and dialect songs

The sonic heart of La Rosamarina is a song halfway between a tammurriata and a serenade, performed with traditional Campanian folk instruments: tammorre, triccheballacche, accordions, castanets, and putipù. The groups travel through the streets of the historic center and the districts, stopping under the decorated balconies to sing verses in dialect, receiving spontaneous offerings in return—money or goods—and, almost always, a glass of wine and traditional Easter taralli.

The bond with Saint Vitus the Martyr

The offerings collected during the ritual are not an end in themselves: by tradition, they fund the celebrations in honor of Saint Vitus the Martyr, the patron saint of Santo Stefano del Sole, celebrated in town in June and commemorated on the last Sunday of August for the translation of his relics in 1814. La Rosamarina is therefore also the first act of a long devotional calendar that marks the community's year.

Intangible Cultural Heritage of Campania

Documented in Santo Stefano del Sole since at least the early 20th century and likely dating back to the second half of the 19th century—when trade between the coast and inland areas brought instruments and musical forms to the valley—La Rosamarina was included in the 2022 Inventory of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Campania. It is preserved and promoted by the La Rosamarina APS association, supported by the local Pro Loco: in March 2026, a delegation of 83 representatives brought the ritual to Rome, playing traditional instruments at the Pope's general audience in St. Peter's Square.

A tradition of the Upper Sabato Valley

La Rosamarina is not the exclusive heritage of a single town: the same tradition, with local variations, is also celebrated in Aiello del Sabato, Cesinali, San Michele di Serino, Santa Lucia di Serino, and Serino. It is the cultural element that unites the entire Upper Sabato Valley, in that strip of Irpinia that rises from the banks of the Sabato river towards the Picentini Mountains.

How to experience it as a visitor

• There are no tickets or enclosures: you watch from the street, following the groups of musicians from district to district.
• The most intense moment is Holy Saturday, when the songs multiply from neighborhood to neighborhood.
• The branches remain displayed on the balconies until Easter Monday: even just walking through the town during those days tells a story.
• April in Irpinia can be cool and rainy: layers and comfortable shoes are recommended, as the streets of the historic center are narrow and steep.