Prepezzano Hazelnut Festival

The Giffoni round hazelnut, the star of late September

Every year, towards the end of September, the hamlet of Prepezzano dedicates a long weekend to the product that has made this corner of the Picentini Mountains famous: the Giffoni PGI round hazelnut. We are in the Municipality of Giffoni Sei Casali, in the province of Salerno, Campania: this is not a commercial trade fair, but a village festival organized by local youth, who for three days transform the alleys, squares, and courtyards of the village into a tasting trail.

A gourmet journey through the village alleys

The formula is the classic one of the most successful Campanian festivals: you walk, you choose, you sit down. The stalls are distributed along the streets of the historic center and offer the hazelnut in all its possibilities, from traditional home recipes to more contemporary interpretations. The tables set up in the open spaces of the hamlet allow you to stop and eat without rushing, with local wine to complete the meal.

The festival dishes

The menu revolves entirely around the hazelnut, offered in both sweet and savory versions:

• Pasta with hazelnut pesto, one of the most requested dishes of the event;
• Caciocavallo impiccato, melted over embers and served with hazelnuts;
• Frionzola and eggplant parmigiana, two classics of the local peasant cuisine;
• Stew prepared according to a home recipe;
• Crepes and tarts, along with artisanal desserts, creams, and brittle;
• Roasted hazelnuts and hazelnut liqueur, essential at the end of the evening.

In past editions, the organization has also provided an alternative menu for those who do not like nuts and a gluten-free option, ensuring no one is left out.

Folk music, evenings, and family Sundays

The entertainment is mainly entrusted to folk music and songs, which in previous editions have enlivened the village every evening starting at 8:00 PM. The final day, Sunday, changes pace: the stalls open only for lunch, and the afternoon is dedicated to entertainment, games for children, and the grand musical finale with local folk groups. This is the moment when the festival most clearly takes on the character of a community celebration, with families from the hamlet and visitors from neighboring towns mingling in the same square.

Who organizes it

The event is conceived and managed by the San Nicola Youth Association of Prepezzano, chaired by Alessia Russo, with the patronage of the Municipality of Giffoni Sei Casali. Mayor Francesco Munno and the association invite citizens and visitors to participate every year: the event has become one of the defining appointments of the municipal calendar, capable of attracting audiences from the entire province of Salerno.

Prepezzano and the Giffoni Sei Casali area

Giffoni Sei Casali covers about 35 square kilometers at an altitude of 250 meters, on the slopes of the Picentini Mountains, and has just over five thousand inhabitants. The Municipality consists of four hamlets — Capitignano, the municipal seat, Malche, Prepezzano, and Sieti — and borders Calvanico, Castiglione del Genovesi, Fisciano, Giffoni Valle Piana, and San Cipriano Picentino. It is the historic heart of the cultivation of the Tonda di Giffoni, the cultivar that gives the PGI its name and which finds ideal soil and microclimate here: a hazelnut appreciated by the confectionery industry for its intense aroma and roasting yield, but which at the festival simply returns to being a home ingredient.

Why it is worth a visit

Those who arrive in Prepezzano will not find imposing stages or big names, but a hillside village that opens up and cooks. For a traveler who wants to understand inland Campania, far from the coastal routes, it is one of the most genuine opportunities: certified product, family recipes, popular prices, and a community that tells its story through what it grows.