San Tammaro Patronal Festival

The most cherished festival in Villa Literno

In the heart of the Caserta plains, just a few kilometers from the Domitian coast, the town of Villa Literno experiences its most intense collective moment every year with the San Tammaro Patronal Festival. The main celebration falls on the second Sunday of September and extends into a full week of events involving the parish, the festival committee, local associations, and the municipal administration. For a few days, the town center transforms: arches of lights line the main streets, market stalls appear, a stage is set up in Piazza Marconi, and a steady stream of families returns to town specifically for the occasion.

San Tammaro, the bishop from Africa

Devotion here is rooted in ancient history. San Tammaro was a North African bishop who lived in the 5th century and arrived in Campania following the persecutions by the Vandals of Gaiseric. Tradition holds that after wandering between Sorrento, Lucrino, and the Campanian plains, he retired to a hermetic life in Vico di Pantano — the ancient name of Villa Literno — where he died and was buried. His relics were later kept in Benevento and, during the Second World War, transferred to the sanctuary of Montevergine. In addition to Villa Literno, the saint is also the patron of Grumo Nevano and the municipality of San Tammaro. In town, the liturgical memorial is celebrated on January 16th, while the external, popular festival is set for the second Sunday of September.

Religious rites and procession

The devotional heart of the festival remains the procession on Sunday afternoon, when the statue of the patron saint travels through the streets of the town accompanied by confraternities, a marching band, and the faithful. The religious program unfolds in the preceding days with a novena, solemn masses, and celebrations presided over by the bishop of the Diocese of Aversa, to which Villa Literno belongs; in some editions, the bishop's visit has been an occasion for the sacrament of Confirmation. The focal point is the Church of Santa Maria Assunta, an ancient foundation remodeled in the 19th century, flanked by the more recent complex of Our Lady of Lourdes, one of the largest in the diocese.

Music and entertainment in the square

The secular program is traditionally generous. The stage in Piazza Marconi has hosted voices beloved by the Campanian public over the years — from Neapolitan singer-songwriters to neomelodico music, from cover bands dedicated to the great names of Italian rock to comedy and cabaret shows. Artists who have performed at the Literno festival include Enzo Avitabile with the Bottari di Portico, whose percussion of barrels, vats, and scythes reproduces the ancient peasant rhythms of processions, and, in the 2024 program, Emiliana Cantone, the Luca Sepe Show, and Rosario Miraggio. Evening events are held outdoors and are free to attend, usually concluding with a high-profile performance.

The taste of the festival

• Pizza in the Square: one of the most popular events of recent editions, featuring free distribution of pizza to the public before the main concert.
• Stalls selling traditional sweets, nougat, peanuts, and products from the Campanian confectionery tradition along the procession route.
• Products of the Caserta countryside: Villa Literno is historically linked to tomato cultivation and the fruit and vegetable production of the plains.

Villa Literno and the Terra di Lavoro

Located in the province of Caserta, in Campania, Villa Literno took its current name in 1927 in reference to the ancient Roman Liternum, the city that hosted the exile of Scipio Africanus and whose ruins are located nearby, towards the coast. The patronal festival is today the main moment of shared identity for a community of about thirteen thousand inhabitants and, together with the Carnival, the great popular event of the local calendar.

Useful information

The festival takes place in the center of Villa Literno and does not require an entrance ticket for the shows in the square. Exact dates and the detailed program are announced by the festival committee and the parish a few weeks before the event, usually between the end of August and the first days of September: it is therefore advisable to check the official channels of the Municipality and the parish before traveling.