Pizza Festival

A town festival dedicated to pizza

The Pizza Festival is the summer event through which the Pro Loco of Pesco Sannita, with the patronage of the Municipality of Pesco Sannita, celebrates Campania's signature dish. The concept is simple and has proven successful for years: bringing the ovens, pizza makers, and aromas of the local pizzerias into Piazza Umberto I, transforming the village center into a large open-air dining room. The organizers present it as an event aimed at promoting local resources through the enhancement of regional food and wine specialties and the promotion of entertainment—a definition that perfectly captures the spirit of a village festival that does more than just serve food; it gives visibility to local artisan businesses.

Ovens in the square and local pizzerias

The heart of the festival is the ovens set up in the square—typically three in recent editions. The pizzerias of Pesco Sannita take turns serving the public, offering both classic Neapolitan pizzas and so-called 'fantasy' pizzas with seasonal toppings and Sannio products. Guests order and eat on-site at tables and benches arranged along the square, pairing their pizzas with draft beer and local Benevento wines. The evenings begin after sunset, generally between 8:00 PM and 9:00 PM, when the village's hilltop elevation makes staying outdoors pleasant until late at night.

• Classic pizzas and house specialties prepared on the spot
• Draft beer and wines from the Province of Benevento
• Communal tables in the 'living room' of Piazza Umberto I
• Typical festival format: pay for what you consume

Live music and dancing in the square

Alongside the gastronomy, there is always entertainment. In documented editions, the evenings have been animated by live bands, with programs of ballroom dancing and Latin-American music that invite guests to the dance floor. It is the most recognizable format of Sannio festivals, where the makeshift dance floor in front of the stage becomes the true center of the evening, bringing together all generations, from children to the village elders.

Pesco Sannita, a village in the Tammaro hills

With fewer than two thousand inhabitants, Pesco Sannita is a small town in the Province of Benevento, in Campania, nestled at an altitude of about 393 meters on the hills that slope down toward the Tammaro River. It was called Pescolamazza until 1948 and retains the layout of a Lombard-origin village that grew around the Pesclum castle. The parish church of the Most Holy Savior is its religious landmark, while the patron saints are Saint Nicholas and Saint Reparata. In 2018, the town hosted the start of the ninth stage of the Giro d'Italia: a territory well-suited for cycling excursions among olive groves, wheat fields, and ridge roads.

When it takes place

Historically, the Pizza Festival takes place in mid-July: the second edition was held from July 16 to 18, 2012, and another edition is documented from July 18 to 20, 2019, always in Piazza Umberto I. Local tourist calendars include it among the events of the 'Pesco summer,' the season that, between July and August, also features the Paccozza Festival on August 10, the patronal feasts of Saint Nicholas and Saint Reparata, and the 'Pesco al Borgo' festival. The dates do not follow a fixed calendar and are announced by the Pro Loco a few weeks in advance; it is always best to check their official channels.

Why it's worth an evening

This is not a tourist trap; it is a festival that the village organizes for itself and welcomes outsiders with natural ease. Those looking for the 'real' Italy of town squares, pizzas coming out of the oven one after another, and small orchestras playing until midnight will find one of the most authentic versions of the Benevento Sannio here, about twenty kilometers from Benevento and a short distance from the villages of the Val Fortore.