San Martino Festival

The longest-running festival on the Amalfi Coast

The San Martino Festival is the autumn culinary highlight of Praiano, a village of just under two thousand inhabitants in the province of Salerno, Campania, overlooking the Amalfi Coast between Positano and Furore. Established in 1975, it celebrated its 50th edition on November 11, 2025: it is considered the longest-running and most beloved food and wine event on the Amalfi Coast, an intangible heritage that the town has cherished for half a century.

The date is no coincidence. November 11 is St. Martin's Day, when according to popular saying «every must becomes wine»: the festival is rooted in ancient end-of-harvest celebrations, when coastal farmers would descend from their vine- and lemon-terraced hills to toast the completed harvest.

What to eat

The festival menu remains the unchanged classic of coastal folk cuisine: hearty, simple dishes designed to warm up a November evening. In recent editions, the stalls have offered:

• Pasta and beans, the signature dish of the evening;
• Soffritto, the bold and spicy Neapolitan preparation;
• Tripe cooked according to the traditional recipe;
• Broccoli and sausage sandwich, the classic autumn pairing in Campania;
• New wine, served by the glass, the true star of the San Martino celebration.

The homemade dessert competition

One of the most anticipated moments is the homemade dessert competition: mothers and grandmothers of Praiano bring recipes passed down through generations to the jury, and a panel of experts awards the best dessert. It is the part of the festival that best captures the domestic and communal character of the event, far removed from the logic of a commercial fair.

Folk music in the streets

As evening falls, the streets of the town center fill with music: the evening traditionally concludes with the songs and tammurriate of the Campanian tradition. In 2025, the final concert was performed by the group A Paranza R'O Lione. Drums, castanets, and accordions accompany the tastings until late, in an atmosphere that is both a village festival and a neighborhood party.

A charity-focused festival

Since 2018, the San Martino Festival has taken on a specific charitable dimension. Proceeds are donated to local volunteer associations and a long-distance adoption project: for years, the Praiano community has supported two children, Jean Philipe and Esperance. The 2025 edition also saw the participation of the Stella Costa d'Amalfi Association, dedicated to fundraising for research into rare genetic diseases. Eating at the festival in Praiano, therefore, also means contributing to a cause.

Praiano out of season

The festival is one of the few opportunities to see Praiano in its authentic dimension, when the Amalfi Coast has emptied of summer tourist flows. The Municipality of Praiano, with its hamlet of Vettica Maggiore and the churches of San Luca Evangelista and San Gennaro, offers clear views of the gulf and the island of Capri in November, as well as the chance to hike the Path of the Gods in mild temperatures. Visitors arriving from outside will find a cozy, uncrowded, and very hospitable town: the festival is, in fact, the event with which Praiano closes its season.