Luci in Altura

An evening of music and light in the Irpinian woods

Luci in Altura is the summer event that the Municipality of Lioni, in the province of Avellino, dedicates to the mountains and their forests. The festival takes place in the Gavitoni area, around the Rifugio Cesinole, a well-equipped site nestled in a beech forest that opens up like a natural amphitheatre in the heart of the Monti Picentini Regional Park. Here, for one night, the silence of the highlands gives way to live music, light projections, and the aroma of Irpinian cuisine.

The formula is well-established: a programme that combines music, entertainment, food and wine, and the promotion of the natural and cultural heritage of the Lioni area. It is not just an open-air concert, but a journey that accompanies the audience from late afternoon until late at night, when lights illuminate the trunks and canopies of the trees.

The forest as a natural theatre

The core concept of the event is to use the landscape as a stage. Successive editions have brought land art installations, light displays, and projections designed specifically for this site, featuring works by local artists. It was here at Cesinole in 2018 that Luca Pugliese created one of the most famous pieces of his Terra Arte project, the large installation I pesci di montagna (Mountain Fish), which attracted thousands of visitors and helped make the site known far beyond the borders of the Ofanto Valley.

Over the years, the festival has also hosted contemporary circus performances scattered throughout the woods and sunset storytelling walks, such as Il Bosco Parlante (The Talking Forest), a one-kilometre trail accessible to families, featuring acrobats, jugglers, and musicians along the path. In short, the mountain is not just a backdrop; it is part of the show.

Live music and guests

The musical line-up is the main draw of the evening. Over the years, the Cesinole stage has hosted well-known names from the Neapolitan and Campanian scene—including Peppe Servillo, voice of the Avion Travel—alongside local bands, folk groups, and tributes to Neapolitan singer-songwriters. The programming deliberately mixes different genres: singer-songwriter music, folk, popular rhythms, and Mediterranean sounds. This choice resonates with the diverse audience that heads up to the mountains for the occasion: families, young people, hikers, and curious visitors from across the Alta Irpinia region.

The flavours of Alta Irpinia

Next to the stage, the food stalls are managed by the Circolo C.R.C. ACLI Santa Maria del Piano, offering a selection of traditional dishes prepared with local ingredients. The Lioni mountains offer raw materials that deserve attention: the Cesinole potato, grown right on these high-altitude lands and celebrated in some editions with dedicated meetings, as well as mountain cheeses, cured meats, mushrooms, and vegetables. On some evenings, the tasting has been organised as a true tasting in the woods, with guided samplings among the trees before the concerts begin.

Lioni and the Picentini mountains

Lioni is a town in Alta Irpinia, Campania, overlooking the Ofanto valley and rebuilt after the 1980 earthquake. Its territory rises towards the peaks of the Monti Picentini, a protected area rich in beech forests, springs, and hiking trails. The Rifugio Cesinole, with its facilities, is one of the most popular access points to this heritage: in summer it is a destination for picnics, while with Luci in Altura, it becomes the centre of the town's cultural life for one night.

The event was born with a clear goal: to showcase a place that many inhabitants of the province had never seen and to demonstrate that the inland mountains can also be a space for cultural production. In this perspective, the event has been included in regional programmes for the promotion of cultural tourism, with the support of the Regione Campania.

When to go

The event usually takes place in the height of summer, between July and early autumn depending on the edition, and lasts for a single evening. It is advisable to arrive early, around sunset: the light falling on the beech forest is one of the most beautiful moments and allows you to visit the installations calmly before the concerts start.