Mediterranean Diet Festival

The festival of the village where the Mediterranean Diet is at home

The Mediterranean Diet Festival takes place in Pioppi, a small seaside hamlet in the Municipality of Pollica, in the province of Salerno, in the heart of the Cilento region and Campania. It is not just a food and wine event: it is a hub of initiatives spanning about forty days during the summer, revolving around the most compelling cultural and anthropological aspects of the Mediterranean lifestyle. Pollica is recognized as an emblematic community of the Mediterranean Diet, inscribed by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity: here, the theme is not a tourist label, but a daily practice made of vegetable gardens, boats, olive groves, and shared tables.

Palazzo Vinciprova and its two museums

The headquarters of the event is Palazzo Vinciprova, the historic building overlooking the sea that houses the Living Museum of the Mediterranean Diet and the Living Museum of the Sea. From there, the events spread throughout the municipal territory of Pollica: the small square by the sea, the beach, the Sailing Center for water-related sports activities, and the paths leading up into the Cilento hinterland. It was in Pioppi that the American physiologist Ancel Keys lived for a long time, studying the diet of the Cilento populations, and one of the rooms hosting meetings and concerts is named after him.

What to do at the Festival

The program changes every year but rests on some recurring ingredients, designed for both vacationers and those arriving specifically for the event:

• meetings and debates on nutrition, health, agriculture, the environment, and the future of inland areas;
• showcooking and tastings with local producers, chefs, and cooperatives;
• book presentations with guest journalists, writers, and researchers;
• concerts, art exhibitions, and theatrical shows for children;
• excursions and sports activities between the sea and the hills, with the Sailing Center and the Park's trails.

The event is promoted by Legambiente and the Municipality of Pollica together with the Living Museum of the Mediterranean Diet, with the patronage of the Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park and the Campania Region.

Sunrise concerts

The most recognizable image of the Festival is the sunrise concerts: on Sundays in August, at six in the morning, musicians perform on the beach as the sun rises over the gulf. It is a ritual that has become a small classic of the Cilento summer over the years, capable of blending classical music, jazz, and contemporary sounds with the silence of the sea.

The Vigna Bio Award

Within the Festival, the Vigna Bio Award is presented annually, a regional event dedicated to the best organic and biodynamic wines of Campania. A commission composed of oenologists, sommeliers, industry experts, and qualified consumers awards category recognitions and the special "Mediterranean Diet Wine" prize. The award evenings are open to the public with "Terroir - The Sea the Color of Wine" tasting stands, set up in the seaside square of Palazzo Vinciprova.

Recent editions

The Festival was born in 2016 and has been held every summer since. In 2023, for its ninth edition, it offered over thirty initiatives on the theme "Blue," from July 28 to September 10, with free admission; in 2024, it took place from July 27 to September 8; in 2025, the tenth edition, titled "Rare Lands, Future Lands," spanned nearly two months, from July 27 to September 21, featuring exhibitions, study days, and sunrise concerts.

Why it's worth visiting

Those spending the summer between Acciaroli, Pioppi, and Casal Velino will find an extra reason to linger in the evening: a festival that doesn't shout, built on conversations, tastings, and music, where you can listen to a researcher talk about soil and then taste a hillside wine a hundred meters from the shoreline. It is also a great way to understand why the Mediterranean Diet, before being a food trend, was observed and described right along this stretch of the Campania coast.