San Martino Chestnuts and Wine

An autumn festival in the heart of the Picentini Mountains

San Martino Chestnuts and Wine is the event that transforms Capitignano—a hamlet in the municipality of Giffoni Sei Casali, in the province of Salerno—into a vibrant stage for rural traditions every November. The village sits on the slopes of the Picentini Mountains Regional Park, in an inland Campania landscape defined by chestnut groves, vineyards, and stone houses. Though just a few kilometers from the better-known Giffoni Valle Piana, it feels like a place frozen in time.

The festival stems from the devotion to Saint Martin the Bishop, the town's patron saint, whose feast day falls on November 11th. The popular saying that "on Saint Martin's Day, every must becomes wine" perfectly captures the spirit of the event: visitors taste new wine, roast freshly harvested chestnuts, and gather around communal tables, just as has been done in these hills for generations.

The historic center as a stage

There are no large marquees or fairgrounds here: the festival unfolds naturally along the alleys, arches, and courtyards of Capitignano's historic center. Food stalls occupy old storage rooms, small squares host live music, and the backdrop is the village itself, illuminated and decorated for the occasion. During the weekend, it is possible to climb the bell tower and visit the church crypt, where the view stretches across the Picentini range and, on clear days, all the way to the sea.

The traditional cuisine of the Picentini

The menu is the true heritage of the event, built on family recipes and local products:

• Ziti with braciola (meat rolls), the iconic Sunday dish of Campania;
• Hand-rolled cavatelli with beans and chestnuts;
• Sfrionzola (pork with potatoes), skewers, sausage and broccoli sandwiches, tripe, and melted cheeses;
• Roasted chestnuts and local new wine;
• Artisan hazelnut and chestnut desserts, crespelle, and calzoncelli filled with Pera Pericina, an ancient local pear variety.

Recent editions have also introduced a children's menu and gluten-free options, a sign of a festival that has grown without losing its family-friendly character.

Music, crafts, and historical re-enactment

Alongside the culinary offerings, there is a curated cultural program: live folk music, street performers, photography and painting exhibitions, craft stalls, crochet and embroidery workshops by the Social Creative Center, and demonstrations of traditional pastry-making and wicker basket weaving. The highlight is the historical re-enactment of the Archibugieri, who parade in period costumes to Piazza Giovanni Paolo II, concluding with the firing of an antique muzzle-loading musket. The event also features the New Wine Competition (which reached its thirteenth edition in 2025), the "San Martino in Motion" morning walk through chestnut groves and trails, and the traditional lottery draw that closes the festivities.

Organizers

The event is organized by the San Martino Vescovo Association, chaired by Giovanni Di Muro, with the patronage of the Campania Region, the Province of Salerno, and local municipalities. The 2025 edition, the twelfth, took place from November 14th to 16th following a postponement due to bad weather.

Why it's worth the trip

Those who arrive in Capitignano will not find an event manufactured for tourists, but a community opening its homes and kitchens. It is the kind of festival where your plate comes from a local resident, the wine from a nearby cellar, and the chestnuts from the woods visible from the square. For those visiting Campania beyond the coastal circuits, three days in Giffoni Sei Casali offer one of the most direct ways to understand what autumn means in the Salerno hinterland.