Montanara Festival (From Bel Canto to Good Taste)

A new festival at the foot of Mount Camposauro

Paupisi is a small town of about 1,400 inhabitants in the Province of Benevento, Campania, overlooking the Calore valley and nestled within the Taburno-Camposauro Regional Park. Here, in June 2026, the Pro Loco Paupisi APS launched the first edition of the Montanara Festival: two festive evenings in Largo G. De Marco, in the heart of the town, dedicated to one of the most popular preparations of the Campanian gastronomic tradition.

The montanara, queen of peasant cuisine

The montanara is a disc of leavened dough that is fried and then topped, in its most classic version, with tomato, basil, and grated cheese. Originally a simple dish for Campanian peasant families—a humble yet ingenious way to make the most of bread dough—it has gradually become a highly sought-after street food specialty at festivals and pizzerias across the region. In Paupisi, the Pro Loco chose the montanara as a symbol of local identity, capable of telling the story of the territory without the need for expensive ingredients.

The tasting varieties

The menu for the first edition featured both the traditional recipe and a series of contemporary reinterpretations:

• Classic — tomato, basil, and Grana cheese;
• Delicate — San Daniele prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella;
• Indulgent — mortadella, buffalo mozzarella, and pistachio;
• Nerano — zucchini cream and Provolone del Monaco;
• Norma — eggplant cream;
• Sweet — Nutella or sugar and cinnamon.

Alongside the montanare, the stalls offered sausage and pork chop sandwiches, French fries, and a wide selection of drinks.

From Bel Canto to Good Taste: opera and the table

The festival is not an isolated event: it is part of the From Bel Canto to Good Taste project, promoted by the Pro Loco Paupisi APS in collaboration with the Municipality of Paupisi and under the patronage of UNPLI. The idea is to combine two souls of village life: classical music and the conviviality of the table. On June 20, 2026, in Piazza Don Tommaso Boscaino, the Invitation to Opera concert featured the "Papisius" Choir—a group formed in 2019 by the Pro Loco and directed by Maestro Gilda Pennucci Molinari—accompanied by an orchestra and soloists performing famous pieces from the operatic repertoire, from Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata to Georges Bizet's Carmen. A week later, the focus shifted to the kitchen for the two evenings of the Montanara Festival.

Live music and village atmosphere

The evenings were accompanied by live performances: on Friday with the duo Angelo and Tiziana, and on Saturday with the Rochitos, who closed the festival with music and karaoke. The atmosphere is typical of Sannio festivals: outdoor tables, families with children, and groups of friends arriving from neighboring towns. The organizers reported an extraordinary turnout, with visitors coming from the Telesina Valley, the entire Sannio region, and other parts of Campania.

The Pro Loco and the Paupisi summer

With this debut, the Paupisi Pro Loco aims to build a second fixed summer event, alongside the historic Cecatielli Festival, the festival dedicated to hand-rolled homemade pasta that has enlivened the last weekend of August for over fifty years and represents the town's gastronomic identity. The Montanara festival, by contrast, takes place at the end of June and ideally kicks off the festival season in the Benevento Sannio area.

Why it's worth the trip

Those looking for an authentic festival, without tourist filters, will find in Paupisi a small but well-organized event where you can eat well for little money and experience the hospitality of a rural village. It is also a great excuse to explore the northern side of the Taburno-Camposauro massif and the vineyards of Sannio, a land of Aglianico and Falanghina wines.