Ond'A Marina

Ond'A Marina, twelve hours of music from sunset to sunrise

Ond'A Marina is the musical marathon with which Santa Maria di Castellabate, a seaside hamlet of the Municipality of Castellabate in the Province of Salerno (Campania), officially bids farewell to summer. The formula is simple and now well-recognized: twelve hours of live music that begin at sunset and continue until the first light of the following day, spread across the Marina Piccola beach and the Perrotti seafront, with the Gulf of Cilento as the only stage setting. There is no single fenced-in stage: the audience moves along the shoreline and the promenade, as music accompanies the transition from evening to night and from night to dawn.

A festival created to extend the season

The event was launched in 2024 on the initiative of the municipal administration with a goal declared by Mayor Marco Rizzo: to extend tourist flows beyond the month of August and give the village an identity-defining event linked to the autumn equinox. The idea worked immediately, so much so that by its second edition, Ond'A Marina had become a staple of the municipal calendar, alongside the Festival del Mare, Estate al Castello, the Arena in Villa festival at Villa Matarazzo, and the village's Christmas markets. Today, it attracts audiences from all over Campania and several other Italian regions.

A program that spans genres

The distinctive feature of Ond'A Marina is its variety: the night is structured as a musical journey that changes register as the hours pass, speaking to very different audiences without ever breaking the flow.

• Brass and classical music at sunset, to open the marathon as the light fades over the sea.
• Opera and Neapolitan classics, entrusted to voices and acoustic instruments along the seafront.
• Jazz and solo piano during the evening, the most intimate and intense moment of the night.
• DJ sets in the heart of the night, for the younger crowd staying on the beach.
• The sunrise concert, generally featuring a solo instrument accompanied by dance and visual performances.

The sunrise concert, the most anticipated moment

It is the event's signature. When the sky begins to brighten, the audience that has traversed the night gathers on the shore or the Molo delle Gatte to listen to a soloist as the sun rises over the Tyrrhenian Sea: in the first edition, it featured a violin and guitar duo, and in the following one, a harp, with dance and body painting completing the scene. It is a silent and participatory moment, very different from a traditional concert, and it alone justifies the choice to stay awake.

A recurring theme: peace

The 2025 edition was explicitly dedicated to peace: through twelve hours of uninterrupted music, the organizers wanted to send a message of hope and unity in a period marked by conflicts. The choice gave the night a more reflective tone, without taking anything away from the popular and festive nature of the event.

Castellabate, the village and the sea

Ond'A Marina takes place in a setting that is worth the trip even by day. Castellabate is one of the symbolic municipalities of the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park, with a coastline awarded the Blue Flag every year and a medieval village on the hill, dominated by the Castello dell'Abate, which can be reached in a few minutes from the marina. Santa Maria is the seaside part: a tourist port, wide beaches, the Perrotti seafront, and, just offshore, the island of Licosa. Those who arrive for the festival find, on the same weekend, a still-mild September, swimmable sea, and one of the most beautiful coasts in Campania.

Who it is recommended for

Ond'A Marina is designed for a broad audience: families and curious visitors at sunset, jazz and classical music lovers in the evening, young people during the night, and travelers and romantics at sunrise. As a widespread, open-air event, it is also well-suited for those who simply want to stroll along the seafront and stop where the music is most appealing.