San Martino Medieval Festival
The Middle Ages as you have never experienced them, in the village of San Martino
About San Martino Medieval Festival
The Middle Ages come alive in the village of San Martino
There is a moment at the end of summer when the small village of San Martino — a hillside hamlet in the municipality of Montecorvino Rovella, in the province of Salerno — stops being just a town in the Picentini Mountains and becomes something else entirely. Modern signs disappear, electric lights give way to torches, and the alleys fill with banners and people in long robes. This is the San Martino Medieval Festival, one of the most evocative historical re-enactments in southern Italy, which transports the village back to the 14th and 15th centuries for three nights.
This is not just a themed market: the entire historic center is set up like an immersive stage, with camps, workshops, scenes of daily life, and hundreds of costumed performers occupying squares, open spaces, and stairways. Spectators do not just watch from the sidelines; they walk through the village and find themselves right in the middle of it, following wandering characters from one corner to the next.
A festival that grows year after year
Born from an idea by the Creativity Event association and having grown rapidly within the Campanian historical re-enactment scene, the festival reached its sixth edition in 2026, following the fourth in 2024 and the fifth in 2025. Each year, the event chooses a theme that serves as a common thread: Limbus in 2024, Luxuria in 2025, and Gula in 2026, dedicated to the pleasures of the table, banquets, and medieval conviviality. The event is held under the patronage of the Campania Region, the Province of Salerno, and the Municipality of Montecorvino Rovella.
Performances, artists, and troupes
The program is dense and spread throughout the village, with performances repeating and alternating over the three nights. Among the festival's regular protagonists:
- Falconieri dell'Irno — falconry demonstrations with free-flying birds of prey
- Nino Scaffidi — fakir and snake charmer
- Il Gobbo di Cicignano — jester and juggler
- Mago Abacuc — magic arts and illusionism
- Muse del Diavolo, Ordo Melodico, Menestrelli del Borgo, and Édea — live medieval music
- Cabatosta — comedy show suitable for families
- Team Mastro Medievale — siege engines and projectile weapons
- Artificieri del Borgo — bombards and costumed cannon fire
- Memento Ridi — medieval artists and fire shows
Completing the picture are the historical pageant in period costumes, archers, flag-wavers, and re-enactment scenes performed along the route.
Taverns and medieval cuisine
The gastronomic aspect is not just a side note, especially in an edition dedicated to Gula. The village taverns offer dishes inspired by period recipes alongside Picentini delicacies: toasted bread and beans, the pork butcher's plate, wild boar stew, strozzapreti, truffle pizza, chicken and turkey skewers, and traditional desserts like pasticella and hazelnut cake. Gluten-free and lactose-free options are also available. To drink, there is local wine, craft beer, and water.
Payment in the taverns is made using the pecunia del borgo, the festival's internal currency, which can be purchased at exchange points and is divided into denominations with period names: the Carlino, the Tron, and the Korak.
A free, nocturnal, and itinerant event
Admission to the festival is free and open, as is watching all the performances: you only pay for what you consume in the taverns. The evenings take place at night, when the village, illuminated by torches, is at its best. The organizers provide ample parking and a free shuttle service to easily reach the historic center, which is pedestrianized and partially uphill.
Montecorvino Rovella and the Picentini Mountains
Montecorvino Rovella is located a few kilometers from Salerno, on the first slopes of the Picentini Mountains, between the Sele plain and the mountains of the Campanian hinterland. The municipal territory consists of hamlets scattered across the slopes, and San Martino is one of those that has best preserved its ancient layout, with stone houses, arches, and narrow alleys: the ideal setting for a re-enactment. A visit to the festival can easily be combined with a day exploring the villages of the Picentini, the Salerno coast, and the area's typical products, from truffles to cheeses.
San Martino Medieval Festival — edition 2026
Gula: the sixth edition
In 2026, the San Martino Medieval Festival reaches its sixth edition and chooses Gula as its theme, celebrating the pleasure of the table and the medieval banquet, following Limbus in 2024 and Luxuria in 2025. For three nights, from Friday, July 31 to Sunday, August 2, the squares, alleys, and ancient houses of the village of San Martino become the stage for a living Middle Ages, with hundreds of costumed performers from the 14th and 15th centuries.
The program alternates between performance and re-enactment: falconry, fire, acrobatics, magic, live music, and siege engines, while wandering characters and acted scenes are encountered along the route. Among the most anticipated moments is the re-enactment of the meeting between Princess Marina d'Aragona and the village's young heirs, included in the historical pageant.
Admission is free and all performances can be followed at no cost. The organizers provide ample parking and a free shuttle service to reach the historic center. The event is organized by Creativity Event with the patronage of the Campania Region, the Province of Salerno, and the Municipality of Montecorvino Rovella.
Programme San Martino Medieval Festival 2026
The three nights
The festival takes place in the evening from Friday, July 31 to Sunday, August 2, 2026, with the opening of the village, taverns, and camps, and performances that repeat and alternate over the three days.
Times indicated by the organizers
- 9:00 PM — I Cabatosta, comedy show for families
- 9:30 PM — Falconieri dell'Irno, falconry demonstration
- 10:00 PM — second falconry show
Announced artists and troupes
- Historical pageant with the re-enactment of the meeting of Princess Marina d'Aragona with the young heirs Davide D'Arminio and Mariateresa Damolidei
- Nino Scaffidi — fakir and snake charmer
- Il Gobbo di Cicignano — jester and juggler
- Mago Abacuc — magic arts
- Muse del Diavolo, Ordo Melodico, Menestrelli del Borgo, Édea — medieval music
- Falconieri dell'Irno — falconry
- Memento Ridi — medieval artists
- Team Mastro Medievale — siege engines
- Artificieri del Borgo — bombards and costumed cannon fire
- Cabatosta — comedy show
The taverns (Gula theme)
- Pan tuost e fasul' — toasted bread and beans
- Lo piatto de lo Norcino
- Wild boar stew
- Strozzapreti Ribellus and truffle pizza
- Chicken and turkey skewers
- Desserts: pasticella and hazelnut cake
- Gluten-free and lactose-free options, including gnocchi and sweet zeppolina
- Local wine, craft beer, and water
Shuttle
Free shuttle service active from 8:00 PM on all three nights, with departures from Piazza Municipio and the cemetery parking area.
Highlights San Martino Medieval Festival 2026
- Sixth edition on the theme Gula, the pleasures of the medieval table
- Historical pageant with hundreds of costumed performers from the 14th and 15th centuries
- Re-enactment of the meeting of Princess Marina d'Aragona
- Falconry with the Falconieri dell'Irno, in two evening performances
- Fakir, jesters, magician, fire shows, and comedy show by Cabatosta
- Siege engines by Team Mastro Medievale and bombards by Artificieri del Borgo
- Live medieval music with Muse del Diavolo, Ordo Melodico, Menestrelli del Borgo, and Édea
- Taverns with period recipes and Picentini specialties, including gluten-free options
- Free admission, free parking, and shuttle
Prices San Martino Medieval Festival 2026
Practical information — San Martino Medieval Festival
Where it takes place
Historic center of the San Martino hamlet, Municipality of Montecorvino Rovella (SA), Campania. The festival route is pedestrian, itinerant, and partially uphill: comfortable shoes are recommended.
How to get there
By car — from Salerno, you can reach Montecorvino Rovella in about 20-25 minutes; use the relevant motorway exits on the A2 del Mediterraneo towards Salerno/Pontecagnano. By train and plane — Salerno train station and Salerno-Costa d'Amalfi Airport (Pontecagnano) are both nearby, then continue by car.
Parking and shuttle
There is ample free parking and a free shuttle service to the village, active every night of the event with departures indicated by the organizers from Piazza Municipio and the cemetery parking area.
Admission and payments
Admission is free and open, including performances. In the taverns, you pay with the pecunia del borgo, the festival's internal currency, which can be purchased at exchange points.
Contacts
Official website: festamedievalesanmartino.it — Phone: +39 338 9092107 — Follow the festival's Facebook and Instagram pages for updates on times and the program.
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