Salsiccia Rossa Festival

A festival dedicated to the most iconic cured meat of Sannio

The Salsiccia Rossa Festival is the event that brings visitors from all over Campania to Castelpoto, a town of just over a thousand inhabitants in the province of Benevento, every spring. The village overlooks the slopes of Mount Taburno at an altitude of about 300 meters. For four days, it concentrates food stalls, folk music, and direct sales from producers in Piazza T. Mancini. The event is organized by the Associazione Salsiccia Rossa di Castelpoto e Prodotti Tipici, which in 2026 marked its 17th edition: a number that speaks volumes about how deeply rooted this celebration is in the Sannio calendar.

Why the Castelpoto sausage is red

The red sausage of Castelpoto is the village's most representative specialty, protected by a Slow Food Presidium and listed among the Traditional Agri-food Products of the Campania region. Its intense color does not come from chili peppers, as many believe, but from the powder of papauli—small local sweet or spicy peppers that are threaded onto strings, hung to dry in the shade, toasted in a wood-fired oven, and finally ground by hand into a fine powder.

• Meat: Noble cuts of pork—ham, shoulder, and capocollo—trimmed and coarsely ground, sometimes with bacon.
• Aromas: Salt, sweet or spicy pepper powder, wild fennel, pepper, and the characteristic "garlic water."
• Processing: Entirely by hand, with no added preservatives, using locally raised pigs.
• Drying: Exclusively by the heat of the fireplace, according to recipes passed down through generations.

The taste can therefore be sweet or spicy depending on the concentration of pepper powder: red does not automatically mean hot. Traditional artisanal production is concentrated from November to April, and it is precisely at the end of the season—during the May Day long weekend—that the village celebrates its symbol.

What to eat at the stalls

The festival menu naturally revolves around the red sausage, offered in both its classic version and in preparations that highlight its spicy character. Alongside it, you will find cecatielli, the hand-made fresh pasta typical of Sannio, other local products, and the inevitable local wine, in a province that is among the most vine-covered in Italy. The stalls are especially active in the evenings; on May 1st, they also open for lunch to welcome participants of the motorcycle rally.

Folk music, tammurriata, and motors

The entertainment side of the festival focuses entirely on Campanian musical traditions: folk songs and dances, folk groups, and above all the tammurriata, the drum rhythm that is the sonic signature of inland Campania and is brought to the square here by young tammorra players. Each edition usually closes with a DJ set that keeps the evening going until late. A separate chapter is the Salsiccia Rossa Motorcycle Rally, which reached its 13th edition in 2026: hundreds of motorcycles arrive in Castelpoto on May 1st, combining a passion for engines with a love for good food.

Castelpoto and the surrounding area

Castelpoto is just ten kilometers from Benevento and is located in the heart of an area of great interest for those who love villages and food and wine: the Taburno-Camposauro Regional Park, the nearby towns of Vitulano, Foglianise, Apollosa, and Campoli del Monte Taburno, and the Sannio wineries with their designations. A visit to the festival can easily be combined with a day in Benevento, exploring the Arch of Trajan, the Roman Theater, and the UNESCO-recognized Santa Sofia complex.

Tips for the best experience

• Arrive early in the evening: the village is small and parking fills up quickly, especially on holidays.
• Take the product home: during the festival, you can buy the red sausage directly from the Presidium producers.
• Spring evenings in the hills: at an altitude of 300 meters, the temperature drops, so it is best to bring a light jacket.
• Free entry: you only pay for what you consume at the stalls.