Mezzafest — Comedy Campus of Southern Italy

The first Comedy Campus in Southern Italy

Mezzafest was born in 2026 in Serramezzana, a tiny municipality in the province of Salerno, Campania, with a clear ambition: to give the Mezzogiorno its first Comedy Campus, a place where comedy is not just a show to watch, but a craft to learn. Two days, June 27th and 28th, featuring writing workshops, monologue dramaturgy lessons, discussions with industry professionals, and a stand-up comedy evening open to all.

The formula combines two worlds that rarely meet: professional training for emerging comedians and a village festival, with locals sitting alongside students who arrived from across the country. The artistic direction is led by Davide DDL, a comedian and author who guided the entire educational path and moderated the meetings.

Serramezzana, a village of a few hundred inhabitants in the heart of Cilento

Serramezzana has just over 270 residents and sits at an altitude of 520 meters, nestled between olive groves and hills, about ten kilometers from the Cilento coast; the municipal territory also includes the hamlets of Capograssi and San Teodoro. We are in the Alento-Monte Stella district, in that Cilento which is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the recognized home of the Mediterranean diet.

Choosing such a small village for a festival dedicated to stand-up comedy, a genre born in big-city clubs, was Mezzafest's most interesting gamble: bringing an urban language to a town where everyone knows each other and seeing what happens. All activities took place in the Municipal Multimedia Hall, transformed for the occasion into a classroom, rehearsal room, and theater.

Training in the afternoon, laughter in the evening

The educational core focused on Saturday, June 27th, with a tight sequence of specialized meetings moderated by Davide DDL himself: from dramaturgy and acting in stand-up monologues to directing and screenwriting in comedy, and from content management for digital platforms to the relationship between comedy and scientific popularization. A path designed for those who want to turn their comedic talent into a career, not just a hobby for an evening among friends.

On the evening of the same day, the campus opened to the public with a stand-up comedy show, while on Sunday, June 28th, the midday talk show focused on the professions revolving around comedy: not just those on stage, but also production, press offices, graphic design, and organization.

Forty selected students and a successful call for applications

Applications, which opened in May 2026, exceeded the organizers' expectations: from the submissions received from all over Campania and several other Italian regions, forty participants were selected, many of whom came from outside the region. This data speaks volumes about the vitality of the Italian stand-up scene and the lack, until that moment, of structured training paths south of Rome.

A project funded by the PNRR

Mezzafest is not an improvised initiative: the project is funded by the European Union as part of Next Generation EU, through the Imprese Borghi measure of the PNRR promoted by the Ministry of Culture. It is a funding line designed specifically to foster cultural and entrepreneurial activities in small towns at risk of depopulation, and Serramezzana — with its village numbers — represents a textbook case.

It is realized by Graf Srl and Acta Progettazioni APS, together with Full Heads Comedy and the collectives Allert Comedy and Standappura, as part of the Resta Qui regeneration project.

Why it's worth following

• It is the first comedy campus in Southern Italy open to the public, not just a simple lineup of shows.
• Admission to public events is free, subject to availability.
• The setting is an authentic Cilento village, far from the mass tourism of the coast.
• It combines experiential tourism, creative training, and territory enhancement, with local communities directly involved.

For a municipality of this size, hosting forty young authors and comedians for an entire weekend is a small event in itself: Mezzafest was born with the declared idea of bringing comedy back to a more authentic and human dimension, and the choice of location tells this intention better than any press release.