Matasse Festival

A pasta that has been intertwining for half a century

The Matasse Festival is the most iconic event of the summer in Caposele, a town of just over three thousand inhabitants in the Province of Avellino, in the heart of Alta Irpinia at the foot of the Picentini Mountains. The Pro Loco has been organizing it for over forty years on the traditional date of August 9th, always in the historic center: in 2024, the event reached its 50th edition, a milestone that very few festivals in Campania can boast.

This is not a festival manufactured for tourists: it is the evening when the town showcases its signature dish and its heritage, with families returning from abroad for the occasion and the squares — Piazza Dante Alighieri and Piazza Sanità — filling up from the late afternoon.

What is the Caposele matassa?

The matassa is a handmade pasta that has no equal in the Italian gastronomic landscape and is registered in the list of Traditional Agri-food Products (PAT) of the Campania Region. It is made with durum wheat semolina and soft wheat flour, without eggs: the shape is born from precise pressure of the fingers and palm, which mold a single closed strand, becoming thinner and longer. The thread is gathered in concentric circles and then folded several times to form the characteristic 'matassa' (skein).

It is a skill learned by watching. For this reason, during the evening, the historic matassare of Caposele hold real demonstration lessons in front of the public, passing on a know-how that is handed down almost exclusively through family and female lines.

What to eat

The matasse arrive on the table in the two classic versions of local tradition, to which more recent editions have added other preparations:

• Matasse and chickpeas, the historic pairing, with extra virgin olive oil
• Matasse with tomato fillet, the simplest and most loved variant by children
• Versions with black chickpeas or local beans
• Handmade fusilli with ragù, for those who want to stick to homemade pasta
• Artisan bread, Irpinian wines, and typical desserts to finish the meal

In 2024, the Pro Loco introduced two innovations that remained in the program for subsequent years: gluten-free matasse and the possibility of booking online portions via the Visit Caposele portal, with a discount on the cash price and sales closing on the afternoon of the same day.

The Night of the Quadriglia

The second heart of the festival is the dance. At night, the squares transform into a collective dance floor for the Night of the Quadriglia, the Irpinian quadrille traditionally directed by local master Tonuccio Corona together with his folk band: a group dance with figures called out by voice, where visitors are literally taken by the hand and inserted into the lines. Over the years, groups of Irpinian folk music, tammurriate, street artists, and DJs have alternated on stage for the end of the evening.

The village of the springs

Caposele is known as the town of waters: here the sources of the Sele river gush, which have fed the Apulian Aqueduct since 1906, and here is the Sanctuary of San Gerardo Maiella in Materdomini, one of the most frequented pilgrimage sites in Southern Italy. Those who arrive for the festival therefore find much more than a gastronomic evening: the Oasis of the Springs, the Water Museum, the Water Amphitheater, and the trails of the Picentini Mountains are all just a few minutes from the center.

A piece of the Caposele Summer

The Matasse Festival is not an isolated event: it is part of the Caposele Summer program, which between the first and second ten days of August concentrates concerts, jazz festivals, theatrical performances, and the Feast of Saint Lawrence on August 10th. Those planning a weekend in Alta Irpinia will therefore find three or four consecutive evenings of events, all free or with free admission.