Paesi dell'Acqua

A village that carries water in its name

Sassinoro is a small municipality in the province of Benevento, in Campania, nestled at an altitude of about 545 metres in the Upper Tammaro region, on the extreme northern border of the Sannio, close to Molise. Its territory is crossed for several kilometres by the Tammaro river and bordered by two of its tributaries, the Sassinora stream towards Morcone and the Rio Fratto towards Sepino; thirteen perennial springs flow from the northern slope of Monte Rotondo, while a small artificial lake in the Colle di Prato area is used for sport fishing. It is no surprise that a festival entirely dedicated to water was born right here.

A festival born from the territory

'Paesi dell'Acqua' is the cultural format that the Municipality of Sassinoro has been running since 2008, and which since December 2015 has been led by the Paese dell'Acqua Cultural Association, founded by Marco Iamiceli — the town's deputy mayor and president of the association — together with Carmine Finelli and Giusy Iuliani. The association works in collaboration with the municipal administration and links the festival to the World Water Day established by the United Nations, with the declared goal of protecting a fragile natural heritage and spreading a culture of environmental care starting from small towns.

Conferences, workshops, and field research

The structure of the event has remained quite recognisable over the years. The days alternate between moments of study and community engagement:

• conferences and debates with technical-scientific reports, open to parliamentarians, local administrators, researchers, and representatives of environmental associations;
• awareness and outreach workshops aimed at schools, local associations, and young people;
• field monitoring activities, including the survey of the Fluvial Functionality Index on the Sassinora stream, managed by the youth forum;
• moments of hospitality and conviviality entrusted to the small village community and its associations.

Editions that left their mark

In March 2014, the seventh edition, hosted on the 21st and 22nd of the month, focused on sustainability, ecology, and 'new agriculture', with speeches by Ugo Mattei, Davide Tabarelli, and WWF representatives, among others, in a town that was just then seeing its own hydroelectric plant come into operation. The 13th edition, from 19 to 24 August 2021, represented the most extensive version of the festival: six days of seminars, round tables, and workshops on the common theme of the relationship between environment and water, with the opening entrusted to the monitoring of the Sassinora stream. The association's website also keeps a record of a 2022 programme.

A network that looks beyond the Sannio

The association's work does not end with the week of events. Sassinoro has joined the international circuit of the Global Network of Water Museums, whose executive director Eriberto Eulisse has participated in local initiatives several times, and carries out projects such as 'Maestri dell'Acqua' (Masters of Water) and RINATAA. Parallel experiences have also been born from this network: in June 2025, for example, the Sassinora stream was once again the protagonist with 'Terre Anfibie' (Amphibious Lands), three days between Sassinoro and Morcone dedicated to soil and water biodiversity, with surveys on the river ecosystem and nature workshops.

Why it's worth the trip

'Paesi dell'Acqua' is not a food festival and does not aim for large numbers: it is a festival of study and participation that uses the landscape as an open-air classroom. Those who arrive in Sassinoro during these days will find a village of a few hundred inhabitants that opens up to researchers, teachers, hikers, and the curious, amidst springs, small waterfalls, and paths along the Tammaro. It is also a good starting point for exploring the Upper Tammaro and the nearby Matese, in a portion of Campania still little touched by mass tourism.

An event to verify before leaving

As this is a volunteer-run event, the calendar can vary significantly from one year to the next: some editions have taken place in the spring, near 22 March, others in mid-summer. Before setting off, it is always advisable to check the official channels of the association and the Municipality of Sassinoro.