Oscata inVita
A year of events among pastures, harvests, and grape-picking in the rural village of Alta Irpinia
About Oscata inVita
The village of Oscata and its widespread festival
Oscata is a small rural hamlet of the Municipality of Bisaccia, in the province of Avellino, in the heart of Alta Irpinia (Campania). Located about five kilometers from the historic center of Bisaccia, it overlooks the plateau of pastures and arable land that characterizes this corner of the Campanian mountains. Today, the village has very few permanent residents: it is precisely from this fragility that the Oscata inVita association was born in 2019, choosing to revitalize the village starting from its own traditions.
The result is not a festival concentrated in a single weekend, but a widespread event that accompanies the entire agricultural year, from spring to autumn. Each day is structured as an experience: you walk, you work alongside those who have always performed these tasks, and you eat together. The events have limited capacity, require mandatory booking, and the contributions collected fund the village's restoration projects.
The Ecomuseum of Rural Kitchens of Alta Irpinia
Oscata is the founding community of the Ecuru, Ecomuseum of Rural Kitchens of Alta Irpinia, the cultural container that gives meaning to all initiatives. It is not a museum of display cases and captions: it is a widespread museum made of cellars, ovens, vegetable gardens, vineyards, and pastures still in use, where heritage is not exhibited but practiced. This framework includes the restoration of the social vegetable garden maintained by volunteers, weekly walks guided by the locals along paths agreed upon with the Municipality of Bisaccia, and the rediscovery of the area's community ovens.
The peasant calendar
- Pasture life with the cheesemaker (May) — a walk to the Oscata pastures, a practical demonstration of fresh and aged cheese production, tasting of ricotta, cellar-aged caciocavallo, and artisanal braids, picnic at the Serroni.
- Therapeutic harvesting (June) — returning to the wheat field with a sickle, harvesting together, and closing with the harvester's dinner, amidst folk songs and music.
- The community oven — lu furn re Cionge, relit in 2026 after decades of silence, has started baking local bread and pizzedde again.
- Grape-picking and treading (September) — a tour of the vineyards, stories of the cellars, tools and rituals of the harvest, grape treading, and lunch with a peasant menu and local proverbs.
- Workshops and meetings — basketry, beeswax and honey, ceramics, book presentations, and readings on summer evenings.
Photography, memory, and Centro Stoico
Since 2026, the village has also hosted a Documentary Photographic Archive, a place of memory entirely dedicated to the visual representation of the rituals, traditions, and trades that have marked the life of the area: the photographs were collected one by one from the homes of Oscata families. Alongside the archive, Centro Stoico was born, an urban art and documentary photography installation conceived by photographer Giuseppe Formiglio, which applies life-sized portraits of yesterday's and today's inhabitants to the facades of the houses. It is a direct way to respond to the depopulation and loss of identity of small Italian towns, and it can be visited freely at any time by walking through the village streets.
Why it's worth the trip
Those who arrive in Oscata will not find stages, lights, or stalls: they will find a community that opens its homes, cellars, and fields. It is one of the most authentic experiences that Alta Irpinia can offer to those who want to truly understand how people lived — and in part, still live — in the villages of the Campanian Apennines. The visit combines well with the historic center of Bisaccia, its Ducal Castle, and the Archaeological Museum, stops that the association often includes in the afternoon program.
How participation works
The days have limited spots and require booking by phone: this is how the association maintains the intimate character of the meetings and the quality of the hospitality. The requested contribution is modest, generally includes tastings and a peasant meal, and is entirely destined for the village's enhancement projects. The motto chosen by the organizers sums it all up: hospitality is a relationship.
Oscata inVita — edition 2026
A year dedicated to memory through images
The 2026 edition of Oscata inVita, in the hamlet of Oscata in the Municipality of Bisaccia (province of Avellino, Campania), alternated as always between field experiences and cultural events, but had a clear common thread: photography as a tool for collective memory.
It began in the spring with Pasture life with the cheesemaker, on Sunday, May 10th, at the Le Ferregne farm: a walk to the pastures, a demonstration of cheesemaking, and a picnic at the Serroni. At the end of June, the therapeutic harvest returned, with the harvester's dinner and, above all, the reopening of lu furn re Cionge, the community oven that had been silent for forty years, from which the first batch of local bread emerged.
Finally, on July 26th, the village opened the doors of the Documentary Photographic Archive and Centro Stoico, the urban art installation by photographer Giuseppe Formiglio, which brought life-sized portraits of yesterday's and today's inhabitants to the facades of the houses. The installation remains permanently visitable along the streets of Oscata.
In the second part of the season, the association announces new appointments from time to time, starting with the traditional grape-picking and treading day in September.
Programme Oscata inVita 2026
Sunday, May 10, 2026 — Pasture life with the cheesemaker
Meeting point at the Le Ferregne farm, in Oscata.
- 10:00 — welcome and meeting with volunteers
- 10:30 — walk to the Oscata pastures with explanations on animal feeding
- 11:30 — practical demonstration of fresh and aged cheese production
- 12:30 — tasting of farm products: ricotta, cellar-aged caciocavallo, artisanal braids
- 13:30 — picnic at the Serroni with local caciocavallo and cured meats
- 16:00 — visit to the historic center of Bisaccia, the Castle, and the Archaeological Museum
Contribution 15 euros per person, discounts for families. Limited spots, mandatory booking at +39 339 6714738.
Saturday, June 27, 2026 — Therapeutic harvesting
- 16:30 — welcome in the small square of Oscata
- 17:00 — therapeutic harvesting in the wheat field
- 19:30 — harvester's dinner, with folk songs and music
Contribution 15 euros. On the same day, the community celebrated the reopening of the village's historic oven with the first batch of local bread.
Sunday, July 26, 2026 — Documentary Photographic Archive and Centro Stoico
- 18:00 — welcome in the small square of Oscata
- 18:30 — visit to the Documentary Photographic Archive
- 19:00 — itinerant tour of the Centro Stoico, with photographer Giuseppe Formiglio
- 20:00 — aperitif offered by Oscata inVita, with bread and pizzedde
Free admission. The Centro Stoico installation is permanently visitable along the village; to access the Archive at other times, please contact the association.
Highlights Oscata inVita 2026
- Walk to the pastures and live cheesemaking with the Oscata cheesemaker
- Hand-harvesting of wheat and harvester's dinner
- Reopening of the community oven lu furn re Cionge after forty years
- Inauguration of the Ecuru Documentary Photographic Archive
- Centro Stoico, life-sized portraits of Oscata residents on the village facades
- Tastings of ricotta, cellar-aged caciocavallo, bread, and pizzedde
Prices Oscata inVita 2026
Practical information — Oscata inVita
How to get there
Oscata is a hamlet of Bisaccia (AV), in Alta Irpinia, and is about 5 kilometers from the town's historic center: the most convenient way to travel is by car. The meeting point for events is almost always the small square of Oscata; some days start directly from local farms, such as Le Ferregne.
Bookings and contacts
All appointments have limited spots with mandatory booking. Oscata inVita Association: phone +39 339 6714738, e-mail [email protected]. Updates are published on the Facebook page Oscata Borgo Rurale — Bisaccia.
Costs
The participation contribution varies depending on the day: around 15 euros for experiences with a peasant meal, 25 euros for the full grape-picking day, with discounts for children and families. The Documentary Photographic Archive and the Centro Stoico installation can be visited for free.
Tips
Comfortable, closed-toe shoes are required: you will be walking in pastures and fields. The center of Bisaccia is nearly 860 meters above sea level, so even in summer, evenings can be cool; for harvesting and grape-picking days, a hat and water are useful. To visit the Archive outside of events, it is necessary to contact the association first.
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Where does it take place — Oscata inVita
Borgo rurale di Oscata — Ecuru, Ecomuseo delle Cucine Rurali dell'Alta Irpinia