Sagra r' Patan' e Cicc Festival

A winter festival in the heart of the Vallo di Diano

While most Italian food festivals take place between spring and autumn, Monte San Giacomo has chosen the coldest season. The Sagra r' Patan' e Cicc is held between Christmas and New Year's, when the Vallo di Diano village fills with locals returning home for the holidays and visitors from neighboring towns. The heart of the event is Piazza Sandro Pertini, in the Casale district, where the cooking and serving stations are set up.

Patan' e Cicc, the dish that gives the festival its name

Patan' e cicc is a peasant dish unique to this municipality: a rustic mash of potatoes and beans, slow-cooked and creamed, seasoned with garlic, onion, oil, oregano, and above all, the sweet pepper powder of the Vallo di Diano, which gives it its characteristic red color. The finishing touch is the dried and fried peppers, known as cruschi, a staple of the southern Apennine tradition. It is a humble dish, born from the mountain winter pantry, which in 2015 was recognized as one of the Traditional Agri-food Products (P.A.T.) of the Campania Region.

Over forty years of history

The festival is organized by the Pro Loco of Monte San Giacomo and has been held annually since 1982. The December 2023 edition marked its 41st anniversary, making it one of the most deeply rooted gastronomic events in the inland Cilento region. Over the years, the festival has hosted well-known names from the Campanian music scene—in 2015, for example, the evening was dedicated to a tribute to Pino Daniele with Tony Esposito—while always maintaining the popular and communal spirit of its origins.

Beyond the table: music and entertainment in the square

The tasting is accompanied by an evening entertainment program that varies from year to year. Recent editions have featured folk music concerts, dance groups, family shows, and storytelling sessions dedicated to the village's history. In December 2025, the evening featured Gli Amarimai – Il circo della musica popolare, with free admission.

The bond with the territory

In recent years, the festival has been included in wider cultural projects. In December 2025, it joined the Custodi del Tempo – Borghi e tradizioni del Vallo di Diano program, a touring festival funded by the Campania Region's Cohesion Agreement and promoted by six municipalities (Monte San Giacomo as the lead, along with Sanza, Buonabitacolo, Casalbuono, Padula, and Montesano sulla Marcellana), under the artistic direction of Antonello Mercurio.

Where it takes place: Monte San Giacomo

Monte San Giacomo is a town of just over 1,300 inhabitants in the province of Salerno, Campania, situated at about 670 meters above sea level at the foot of Mount Cervati, the highest peak in the region. The area is part of the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site: a landscape of beech forests, springs, and high-altitude pastures that perfectly explains the mountain cuisine celebrated by the festival.

Why it is worth the trip

• A dish you can practically only taste here, prepared according to the local recipe.
• An authentic community festival, far from mass tourism circuits.
• The atmosphere of an Apennine village during the days between Christmas and New Year's.
• The opportunity to combine your visit with the Certosa di San Lorenzo in Padula, just a few kilometers away.
• Typical products of the Vallo di Diano — peppers, beans, cheeses, cured meats — available in the village.