Porcini Mushroom Festival

The porcini, king of the Alburni woods

At the end of September, Castelcivita—a village of just over 1,300 inhabitants overlooking the southwestern slopes of the Alburni Mountains in the province of Salerno—dedicates three days to the product that has defined its culinary fortune: the porcini mushroom. The Porcini Mushroom Festival is organized by the Castelcivita Pro Loco, led by Rosario Cantalupo. Having surpassed its thirty-third edition, it stands as one of the most frequented food and wine events in the inland Cilento and the entire hilly Campania region.

The historic center becomes an open-air kitchen

The formula has remained unchanged over the years and is the event's greatest strength: not a fenced-off area on the outskirts of town, but the entire historic center. Food stalls are scattered along the narrow streets and small squares, with a main hub in Piazzale Maucione, while Piazza Santa Sofia typically hosts the stage for evening musical performances. Visitors eat while walking, sitting on stone steps, or at tables set up beneath stone houses, and the village remains lively late into the night.

What to eat

The porcini mushroom is the common thread in almost every dish, prepared according to local home recipes and paired with other products from the Alburni territory. Recent editions have featured:

• porcini mushroom risotto;
• penne with porcini;
• stew with porcini mushrooms;
• porcini fritters;
• chickpeas with porcini;
• porcini pizza baked in a wood-fired oven;
• "hanged" caciocavallo cheese and sausage sandwiches;
• desserts, local wine, and traditional products sold at the stalls.

Music, folklore, and evenings in the square

Alongside the culinary offerings, the Pro Loco curates an annual program of free performances: concerts by artists from the Neapolitan and Campanian scene, dance groups, pop bands, roaming entertainment, and folklore throughout the village streets. In 2024, the opening night featured Franco Ricciardi, while the 2025 edition kicked off with the nineties-themed show Nostalgia 90 in Piazza Santa Sofia. On Sunday, stalls open for lunch, allowing visitors arriving from afar to explore the village and its surroundings during the day.

A "Typical Festival of the Campania Region"

In 2024, the event received a prestigious recognition: inclusion in the regional list of Typical Festivals of the Campania Region, a registry that certifies the cultural, tourist, and economic value of events tied to local agri-food products. Along with the Porcini Mushroom Festival, the Mountain Potato Festival of Castelcivita, held in late October, has also joined the regional calendar. The municipality has also authorized the use of the town's coat of arms in the festival's promotional materials.

Castelcivita: between caves and National Park

Visitors arriving for the festival will find much more within a few kilometers. Castelcivita is famous primarily for its Caves, a speleological complex of about 4,800 meters that is among the most extensive in Southern Italy, open for guided tours along the banks of the Calore River. The municipal territory is part of the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and offers hiking trails leading to the Alburni plateaus, where the festival's star—the porcini—is harvested. The village, with its medieval layout and stone alleys, is easily explored on foot.

The 2026 edition

The Cilento event calendar announces the return of the Porcini Mushroom Festival in Castelcivita from September 27 to 29, 2026. The detailed program of the evenings, including artist lineups and stall opening hours, has not yet been published by the Pro Loco; it is advisable to check for updates on the association's social media channels and the municipal website in the weeks leading up to the event.