Notti di Stelle (Palazzo San Giovanni)

A summer festival in the heart of Cava de' Tirreni

Notti di Stelle is the festival that brings summer to life in the gardens of Palazzo San Giovanni, in Cava de' Tirreni, in the province of Salerno, in the heart of Campania. The program is intentionally concise: just four evenings, all on Fridays, dedicated to signature comedy and Neapolitan folk music, hosted outdoors in the greenery of the San Giovanni Monumental Complex, just a few meters from the famous porticoes of Corso Umberto I.

The formula has won over the public of the Valle Metelliana precisely because of its simplicity: arrive in the evening, dine in the historic garden, and then the stage lights up. Music, irony, good taste, and quality cuisine coexist in the same evening, in a setting that combines hospitality and live performance without the rigidity of a traditional theater.

Palazzo San Giovanni, a location inside a monastery

The venue itself is part of the appeal. Palazzo San Giovanni is a multifunctional facility housed within the Monumental Complex of the Monastery of San Giovanni, located in the city center. It features a restaurant, pizzeria, lounge bar, rooftop, and cloister, and is well-known in the Salerno area for the elegance of its spaces and the private and public events hosted there.

In summer, the focus shifts outdoors to the gardens: that is where Notti di Stelle comes to life, with the stage set up among the greenery and tables arranged for dinner. The result is an evening halfway between a restaurant and a show, with an intimate atmosphere that lends itself perfectly to close-up comedy and cabaret.

The 2026 program: four names of Neapolitan laughter

The 2026 edition took place between June and July with four events:

• Friday, June 12 — Francesco Procopio, a well-known face of brilliant theater, opened the festival.
• Friday, June 19 — Biagio Izzo, one of the most followed comedians on the national scene and a veteran of previous editions.
• Friday, July 3 — Simone Schettino, the "Neapolitan fundamentalist," with his social satire made of sharp monologues.
• Friday, July 17 — Tony Tammaro, an icon of Neapolitan humorous music and inventor of so-called "tamarra music," closed the program with a concert-cabaret designed as a true one-man show.

The evenings were hosted by Enzo and Mario from Radio Kiss Kiss, who accompanied the audience between courses until the start of the show.

How the evening works

Entry to the gardens is scheduled from 8:30 PM, while the show begins at 9:00 PM. Dinner is an integral part of the experience and is prepared by the facility's chefs, who focus on seasonal cuisine linked to the Campania region. It is possible to book a single evening or, as in previous editions due to high demand, a season ticket that includes all four events.

Reservation is mandatory and can be made by calling the facility's numbers or by visiting Palazzo San Giovanni directly at Corso Umberto I 167.

A festival that continues off-season

Notti di Stelle does not end with summer. Following the success of the evenings in the gardens, in the autumn of 2024, Palazzo San Giovanni proposed a "Winter" edition indoors, maintaining the dinner-show format: dinner from 8:00 PM with traditional Campanian dishes, live musical accompaniment, comedy show, and a DJ set to finish. A sign of the continuity of a proposal that the local public has quickly embraced.

Cava de' Tirreni, gateway to the Coast

The municipality of Cava de' Tirreni, in the province of Salerno, is one of the most vibrant cities in Campania in terms of events: it hosts the historic Disfida dei Trombonieri, and the center is recognizable by the long medieval porticoes of Corso Umberto I, unique in the region. The location is strategic: we are a few kilometers from Salerno, the Amalfi Coast, and the ruins of Pompeii, in a green valley between the Lattari and Picentini mountains.

For those visiting the area in summer, an evening at Notti di Stelle is a direct way to get in touch with contemporary Neapolitan comedy and music—the kind that fills the region's theaters—in a historic setting with local cuisine on the plate.