San Felice da Cantalice Festival

A patronal festival in the heart of Irpinia

A few kilometers from Avellino, nestled at an altitude of about 575 meters on the slopes of the Partenio mountains, the Municipality of Capriglia Irpina preserves one of the most cherished religious traditions in the province of Avellino. Every year, around May 18th, the San Felice district becomes the center of community life for the festivities in honor of San Felice da Cantalice, the district's patron saint.

The festival is considered one of the first in the Irpinian calendar: it effectively opens the season of patronal feasts in Campania and attracts, in addition to the locals, visitors from neighboring towns — Grottolella, Montefredane, Ospedaletto d'Alpinolo, Summonte — and from the provincial capital itself.

San Felice da Cantalice, the first Capuchin saint

Born in Cantalice, in the Rieti area, and died in Rome in 1587, Brother Felice was the first Capuchin friar to be canonized. A beggar on the streets of the capital, he greeted everyone he met with his "Deo gratias," so much so that he is still remembered today as "Brother Deo gratias." The Church celebrates him on May 18th, and his devotion has been rooted for centuries in the Capriglia district that bears his name, where the church dedicated to him stands. It should be noted that the patron saint of the Municipality is actually Saint Nicholas of Bari, celebrated on December 6th: the May event is the festival of the district, which has, however, taken on a much broader significance over the years.

The religious program

The heart of the event remains its liturgical dimension. On the first day, the procession leaves in the late afternoon from the church of San Felice and winds through the streets of the district, reaching neighboring areas like the Tropeani, on the border with Grottolella. The following day, a solemn mass is celebrated in Piazza San Felice — in 2025 presided over by the Bishop of Avellino, Monsignor Arturo Aiello — and the day concludes with a second evening procession that returns the saint's statue to the church.

Bottari, brass bands, and tarantella

Alongside the religious program, there has always been a rich secular program, full of music, culture, and entertainment. At dawn, the "Città di Serino" brass band parades through the streets, waking the district with traditional marches. The evenings in the square are entrusted to Campanian folk music groups: in 2025, Suoni Antichi – I Bottari di Macerata Campania performed, using barrels, vats, and scythes struck to a rhythm linked to the ancient ritual of the feast of Sant'Antuono, followed by Dance Tarantella, a project that reinterprets the tarantella in a dance-music style.

Irpinian flavors in the square

Throughout the festivities, food stalls set up by the committee remain open, a classic feature of Irpinian village festivals:

• sandwiches and local culinary specialties prepared by volunteers
• gluten-free options, now a standard feature of the event
• wines and typical products from the Avellino territory

Fireworks

The closing is entrusted to the firework display, the most anticipated moment of the festival: the fireworks, in recent years managed by the Cav. Iannace company from Montesarchio, light up the hillside and can be seen from a large part of the Avellino basin. It is the image that remains etched in the minds of those visiting Capriglia for the first time.

A community reunited

Organized by the Comitato Festa pro-San Felice with the support of the parish and the Municipality, the festival is not just a devotional appointment: it is the moment when the community comes together, when emigrants return, and when the districts are decorated for the celebration. Those visiting Irpinia in spring will find here an authentic gateway to the popular traditions of inland Campania, just a stone's throw from the villages of the Partenio and the wine roads of Fiano and Greco di Tufo.