Pizza & Falanghina Festival

Pizza and Falanghina, the duo that kicks off the summer

Some towns tell their story in a single word, and in Castelvenere, that word is wine. In the heart of the Valle Telesina, in the province of Benevento, this small municipality in Campania dedicates about 60% of its territory to vineyards and boasts hundreds of farms: it is considered the most vine-covered municipality in central-southern Italy. The Pizza & Falanghina Festival was born exactly from this, from the idea of pairing the white wine that symbolizes the Sannio region with the most popular dish of the Campanian tradition: pizza baked in a wood-fired oven.

The result is a village festival that, in just a few editions, has carved out a permanent spot on the Valle Telesina's June calendar, so much so that for 2026, the organizers decided to double the dates to accommodate the influx of visitors.

The medieval village as a stage

The true set designer of the event is the historic center of Castelvenere, a medieval-style village made of narrow alleys, arches, stone portals, and sudden open squares. The stalls are distributed between Piazza San Barbato and the adjacent streets, with local restaurants involved in the hospitality. "The successful combination of Castelvenere's pizza and Falanghina, along with the characteristic medieval village, is the true secret of the event's success," explained Mayor Alessandro Di Santo, who considers the event the moment that kicks off the Castelvenere summer.

Six wood-fired ovens, fourteen labels

The gastronomic heart is entrusted to six local pizzerias, one of which is dedicated to gluten-free pizza: a choice that makes the festival accessible even to those living with celiac disease, a detail that is not trivial for a provincial food festival. Alongside the ovens, the wine stalls offer fourteen local labels of Falanghina, the grape variety that has made Castelvenere and neighboring towns protagonists of the "Sannio Falanghina – European City of Wine" project.

• Pizza: classic and daily specials, baked in wood-fired ovens set up in the village
• Falanghina del Sannio: in its various winery interpretations
• Typical products: from the Valle Telesina and traditional desserts
• Area dedicated to crafts and gift ideas

The tuff cellars and the farmer's house

One of the most interesting aspects of the festival is the chance to descend into the tuff cellars carved beneath the village houses, where wine has been produced and stored for generations, taking advantage of the rock's constant temperature. On the Sundays of the event, guided tours of these historic cellars are scheduled, with free admission to the museum and the farmer's house, a reconstruction of local rural life. It is the best way to understand why wine here is not a tourist product, but a family craft.

Music, theater, and motors

Every evening has its own appointment on the stage: ranging from theatrical performances by local students to Sannio folk music bands, live groups, and the Corrida Vennerese, a local talent competition that winks at local self-irony. The final Sunday also welcomes the arrival of classic and sports cars, which park in the village before the evening stalls open.

Preview of the Wine Festival

Pizza & Falanghina is not the only wine event in Castelvenere: it is openly the preview of the Wine Festival, the historic event at the end of August which in 2025 reached its forty-third edition and is among the longest-running in the province of Benevento. Those who arrive in June therefore find a more intimate and collected version of the same passion, with fewer crowds and more time to talk to the producers.

Why it's worth the trip

Castelvenere is located a few kilometers from Telese Terme and the Calore River, in a stretch of inland Campania often ignored by tourist flows heading to the coast. Combining the festival with a visit to the thermal baths, the ancient Telesia, or the villages of the Titerno area allows you to discover an agricultural, hospitable, and still surprisingly authentic Sannio. And you return home with the idea, which is anything but parochial, that Falanghina goes perfectly with pizza.