Marcianise Blues Festival

Blues in Piazza Umberto I

The Marcianise Blues Festival is the event that brings the blues to the open-air living room of Marcianise, in the province of Caserta, at the end of summer. The stage is set up in Piazza Umberto I, the city's main square, and for two consecutive nights, the center fills with electric guitars, harmonicas, and twelve-bar rhythms. Admission is free: no ticket is required, just show up in the square.

A history that began in 2019

The festival was born in 2019 under the artistic direction of Agostino Grillo, a passionate promoter of the Caserta blues scene. The first edition took place between August 31st and September 1st, immediately featuring bands from several Italian regions. After a hiatus due to the pandemic, the festival restarted in 2022 with late-August evenings in Piazza Umberto I, continued in 2023, and reached its fourth edition on September 26 and 27, 2025.

The organizers

• AMACOM, the Marcianise merchants' association, which promotes and organizes the event;
• the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Marcianise, which supports the initiative;
• the patronage of the Province of Caserta;
• the collaboration of the Italian Blues Union and Blues Highway, entities that connect the network of Italian blues festivals.

More than just concerts

The Marcianise Blues Festival formula extends beyond the stage. Around the square, you will find street food stalls, vintage market stands, and a classic vehicle display—elements that evoke the mid-20th-century American imagery to which the blues is historically linked. It is an evening to be enjoyed while strolling between sets, with no assigned seating or theater-like formality.

The music

The programming favors Italian bands that explore the classic repertoire—from the blues pioneers of the fifties to the electric Chicago sound—alongside original blues-inspired projects. In 2025, the stage featured, among others, the Neapolitan True Blues Band and the Michele Biondi Band from Lucca; previous editions hosted groups such as The Smokerz and The Rebels Band. The focus is entirely on the musicians: harmonicists, guitarists, and solid rhythm sections, with sets usually starting around 9:00 PM and continuing late into the night.

Marcianise and the Terra di Lavoro

Marcianise is one of the most populous centers in the province of Caserta, in Campania, in the heart of the Terra di Lavoro plain. A city with a long tradition of goldsmithing and commerce, it has built a widespread summer calendar in recent years—the Marcianise Summer Festival—which brings life to squares, the Palazzo della Cultura, and the municipal library from July to September. The Blues Festival has become one of its most recognizable events and remains one of the very few festivals dedicated to the blues in Campania; in the province of Caserta, it is effectively the only one.

The 2026 edition

As of the update of this page, the 2026 edition has not yet been officially announced: the municipal cultural summer calendar, published for the period between July 10 and September 27, 2026, does not list the event. Given its usual timing at the end of September, it is likely that the dates will be announced closer to the event on the festival's social media channels. It is therefore advisable to check before traveling.