San Giovanni Festival of Montemarano

The most cherished festival in the Irpinian village

In the third week of August, the village of Montemarano, in the province of Avellino, in the heart of Irpinia (Campania), celebrates its patron saint, San Giovanni da Montemarano. It is the most anticipated event on the local calendar: for three days, the historic center, perched at an altitude of about 820 meters above the Calore Valley, fills with lights, stalls, music, and visitors arriving from neighboring towns. It is also a time when the village is reunited, as many emigrant families return home in August for their holidays.

Who was San Giovanni da Montemarano

Giovanni was the first bishop of the diocese of Montemarano. Appointed by Pope Gregory VII in 1084 during the pontiff's stay in Salerno, he was consecrated that same year in the cathedral of Benevento. He died on April 14, 1095, and was buried in the crypt of the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, where his relics are still kept in an ancient reliquary cabinet. The Martyrology remembers him on April 14, the day of his dies natalis, but Montemarano has chosen to celebrate him on August 21st: a date that allows the entire community to participate.

The religious program

The festivities are preceded by the novena, announced by the ringing of bells and fireworks. During the festival days, the saint's statue and the arm-reliquary are displayed for the veneration of the faithful; on August 21st, a solemn mass is celebrated, often presided over by the archbishop, followed in the evening by the procession that winds through the main streets of the town with the patron's relics, accompanied by the band and a large crowd.

The civic side: bands, exhibitions, and fireworks

Alongside the liturgy, the San Giovanni Festival Committee organizes a civic program each year that has consistently included:

• brass band concerts in Piazza del Popolo, with invited ensembles parading through the town streets from the early morning hours;
• the nightly fireworks competition with a trophy awarded to the best pyrotechnician, one of the most anticipated moments of the Montemarano summer;
• games and inflatables for children at the Villa Comunale;
• art exhibitions and photography contests dedicated to the landscapes and sacred sites of Montemarano;
• evening musical performances, ranging from opera to popular entertainment.

The organization is managed by the San Giovanni Festival Committee, which collects donations from citizens in collaboration with the Municipality of Montemarano and the parish.

The San Giovanni Fair on August 18th

The week of festivities is officially opened by the traditional San Giovanni Fair, a general market that occupies the streets of the center on August 18th with stalls selling clothing, household goods, crafts, and food products. The fair is regulated annually by a specific municipal act, which assigns stalls to vendors based on applications submitted to the SUAP office.

Montemarano, between tarantella and Aglianico

The patronal feast is just one facet of Montemarano's traditions. The town is known throughout Campania for its Carnival and the Montemarano tarantella, a collective dance led by the caporabballo and documented in the local ethnomusical museum, as well as for Aglianico, the great red wine of the area celebrated at the end of September with a dedicated festival. Those arriving in August for San Giovanni will find a village that experiences the festival as a form of collective identity rather than just a simple calendar of events.

A festival within the Montemarano summer

The patron saint's days are part of the rEstate a Montemarano program, the municipality's summer schedule that runs from June to September, featuring neighborhood feasts, food festivals, concerts, sports tournaments, and dance evenings. The result is an almost uninterrupted month of August events, of which the San Giovanni festival represents the religious and popular peak.