Sacred Heart of Jesus Festival

A community festival at the foot of the Roccamonfina

In Marzano Appio, a town of just under two thousand inhabitants in the province of Caserta, Campania, the Sacred Heart of Jesus festival is not born from a tourist brochure: it is one of those traditions that thrives thanks to the devotion of families and the volunteer work of a local committee. They self-fund throughout the year, organize in the square, and arrive in July with the ritual that concludes every self-respecting festival in the Alto Casertano: fireworks.

The village is scattered across dozens of small hamlets distributed on the eastern side of the extinct Roccamonfina volcano, within the Roccamonfina–Foce Garigliano Regional Park, among chestnut groves and ancient farmhouses. The collective meeting point, however, remains Piazza Mercato, the space historically designated for the market and fair, recognizable by its wide and majestic staircase.

The pyrotechnic and musical show

The heart of the festival, and the event documented by the local press, is the pyrotechnic and musical show held in Piazza Mercato in the evening. This is not a simple final battery of fireworks: the committee chooses a pyromusical display, where light explosions are timed to the notes of classical music, with the architecture of the staircase serving as a scenic backdrop and sound box.

The pyrotechnic direction is entrusted to the De Rosa company, a well-known name in the sector in the Terra di Lavoro. The result is an evening designed to be experienced live, in the square, with family and friends: an experience that, as the local news reminds us, has a different value than one seen through a screen.

A committee that works all year round

Behind the festival is the Sacred Heart of Jesus Festival Committee, which raises the necessary funds through the classic methods of local solidarity. In July 2025, for example, the committee had its own stand at the San Giacomo Fair in Piazza Mercato, where crespelle and ciambelle were prepared on the spot and sold for one euro: the proceeds went entirely to support the Sacred Heart festivities.

• Free admission festival, in the square, no tickets or reservations required
• Pyromusical evening as the highlight, held in the evening
• Entirely volunteer-led and self-funded organization
• Local audience and visitors from nearby hamlets, with a strong family presence

Marzano Appio: chestnut groves, castles, and ancient fairs

Those arriving for the festival will find a territory that deserves a few extra hours. Marzano Appio takes its name from the feudal Marzano family: the ruins of their 13th-century castle remain, while the Terracorpo Castle retains the appearance of an elegant medieval palace. The parish church of San Sebastiano and the church of Carmine, with its frescoes in the Vallecupa area, complete the religious heritage.

The local calendar does not end with the Sacred Heart: at the end of July, the San Giacomo Fair takes place, heir to a market granted by Charles of Anjou at the end of the 13th century and now accompanied by the historical pageant of the Mastro Mercato and flag-wavers; the last Sunday of August is dedicated to the patron saint Saint Anthony of Padua, with the famous pyrotechnic fire of the bell tower; in autumn, the same Piazza Mercato hosts the Chestnut Festival, dedicated to the chestnuts grown on the volcanic soils of the area.

Why it is worth attending

The Sacred Heart of Jesus Festival is an authentic opportunity to understand how summer is experienced in the towns of the Caserta hinterland: no pharaonic stages, but a full square, the committee's stalls, chairs brought from home, and, at nine in the evening, the darkness filling with light and music. For those visiting inland Campania, it is also an excellent excuse to discover a corner of the Roccamonfina Park far from mass tourism circuits.