Pork Festival

One of the oldest festivals in Salento

The Pork Festival in Villa Baldassarri, a hamlet of the municipality of Guagnano in the province of Lecce, is a food and wine event that has been held during the first ten days of September since the 1980s. Originally a village feast to celebrate the flavors of Salento's peasant tradition, it has grown over the years to become one of the longest-running and most popular events in upper Salento, attracting thousands of visitors from all over Puglia and beyond.

Pork, the star of the table

At the heart of the event is, naturally, pork, cooked according to ancient local recipes. The food stalls offer sausage, porchetta, pezzetti, and ventresca, but the menu is also enriched with snails, seasonal fruit such as grapes, watermelon, and prickly pears, as well as artisanal gelato. All this is washed down with robust red wine from Salento, the land of Negroamaro, and cold beer. There are options to satisfy every palate, in a journey of taste that winds through the streets of the historic center.

Live music and conviviality

The Pork Festival is not just about gastronomy: every evening, the village comes alive with live music on multiple stages, ranging from the sounds of pizzica and Salento taranta to Mediterranean folk, as well as popular dance music. Recent editions have hosted well-known names from the Apulian and Southern Italian music scene, turning the squares of Villa Baldassarri into a great collective celebration that combines good food, dance, and tradition.

A village in upper Salento

Villa Baldassarri is located just a few kilometers from Lecce, in the municipality of Guagnano, an area famous for the wine production of Salice Salentino and Negroamaro. The festival is the perfect opportunity to discover this authentic corner of Puglia, far from the main tourist circuits, and to experience the genuine hospitality of the Salento communities. The event is organized by the Pro Loco Villa Baldassarri with the patronage of the Municipality of Guagnano and the support of the UNPLI.

Free admission

The event features free admission: you only pay for what you consume at the food stalls. A popular and accessible format that has ensured the festival's success and its extraordinary continuity over time, now reaching more than forty editions.