Maddaloni Music Festival

The Music Festival in Maddaloni

Born in France in 1982 and now celebrated in over 120 countries, the Music Festival on June 21st is the event that welcomes the arrival of summer by bringing musicians out of theaters and into the streets and squares. In Maddaloni, in the Province of Caserta, the local government has chosen to make it the inaugural moment of the Maddaloni Summer: not just a single concert, but a widespread weekend featuring symphonic music, marching bands, singer-songwriters, and traditional Campanian folk music, all with completely free admission.

This choice speaks volumes about the city: Maddaloni has a long-standing tradition of community music, from the town band to its music schools, and the Music Festival serves as a showcase for this local fabric, complemented by nationally renowned guests.

A three-stage journey, from sanctuary to squares

The program unfolds in three distinct moments, each with its own character. It begins on Saturday evening in the Sanctuary of San Michele Arcangelo, where the sacred building's acoustics host a concert dedicated to great contemporary film scores. On Sunday morning, the rhythm changes radically: the Maddaloni Symphonic Band parades through the streets of the historic center and returns to Piazza della Vittoria for an orchestral performance, featuring the participation of primary school students. Finally, in the evening, everything converges in Piazza don Salvatore d'Angelo, the city's urban living room, for the headline concert.

• Saturday evening — symphonic and film music in the sanctuary
• Sunday morning — marching band and concert with school children
• Sunday evening — grand folk concert in the square

Carlo Faiello and the Campanian musical tradition

The artistic direction is entrusted to Carlo Faiello, a Neapolitan singer-songwriter and musicologist who is one of the leading scholars and promoters of Southern folk music, and the creator of the Notte della Tammorra in Naples. His work gives the event a precise identity: the Cantata Popolare (Folk Cantata), a choral project where his ensemble accompanies various guests on a journey through tammurriate, villanelle, classic Neapolitan songs, and more recent original compositions.

For visitors arriving from outside the region, this is the most interesting way to experience the event: in Campania, folk music is not a museum piece, but a living language still tied to religious festivals, dances, and the rituals of the Vesuvius and Caserta towns. Hearing it performed in a crowded square, for free, conveys that context better than any record.

Organizers

The event is promoted by the Municipality of Maddaloni through the Department of Culture and Events, produced by the «Il canto di Virgilio» Foundation, and supported by local associations, including the APS «Castrum» of Maddaloni, the «G. Verdi» Cultural Musical Association, and the «San Michele» Pro Loco. Event assistance is provided by the Civil Protection and the Red Cross. The organizational direction is managed by Paolo Romano.

Maddaloni, between the castle and the Carolino Aqueduct

It is worth arriving a few hours early. Maddaloni stretches at the foot of the Tifatini Mountains, dominated by the remains of the medieval castle and its towers, with a historic center layered with churches and noble palaces. A few kilometers away lie the famous Ponti della Valle of the Carolino Aqueduct, the Vanvitellian masterpiece that supplied the Royal Palace of Caserta and is part of the Caserta UNESCO site. The city is therefore a convenient base for a day combining Bourbon heritage and live music, in an inland Campania often overlooked by the most beaten paths.

Why attend

Because it is free, because it mixes disparate repertoires in an unconventional way—Hans Zimmer in the morning of the same summer day you hear a tammurriata—and because it shows an entire city working on its own festival: bands, schools, associations, parishes. It is the antithesis of a manufactured festival, and for this very reason, it tells a great deal about the relationship between Maddaloni and its music.