San Vito Tournament

A tournament that kicks off the summer in San Gregorio Magno

The San Vito Tournament is the most deeply rooted sporting event in San Gregorio Magno, a town of just under 3,800 inhabitants in the upper Tanagro Valley, in the hinterland of the province of Salerno, in Campania: at an altitude of 475 metres, on the slopes of the Eremita-Marzano mountains, just a stone's throw from the border with Basilicata. Every year in mid-June, the municipal sports centre fills up with teams, kit bags, and parents: for nine days, youth football becomes the heart of town life. In 2026, the tournament reached its 25th edition, scheduled from 13 to 21 June.

Who organises it

The event is directed by the Scuola Calcio Leoncini Gregoriani, the local club that manages grassroots football in the town, in collaboration with the Municipality and the Youth and Scholastic Sector of the FIGC Campania. Over the years, a support network has been built around the tournament, including the Campania Region, the Province of Salerno, the neighbouring municipalities of Buccino, Palomonte, and Ricigliano, local credit institutions such as BCC Aquara and Cassa di Risparmio Salernitana, the SeleTanAgro Consortium, and the local Pro Loco. It is a sign that the event is considered not just a simple sporting manifestation, but a community asset.

Who takes the field

The tournament is reserved for youth and scholastic sector teams: ranging from the Piccoli Amici, the children taking their first steps with a ball, up to the Under-15s. In recent editions, dozens of teams and hundreds of young players have responded to the invitation, arriving from the best football schools in Campania and beyond. The schedule is spread over nine days, with matches concentrated in the afternoon and evening, when the Apennine temperature becomes more pleasant.

• Nine consecutive days of matches, from 13 to 21 June 2026
• All grassroots categories, from Piccoli Amici to Under-15
• Football schools from Campania and neighbouring regions
• Single venue: the municipal sports centre of San Gregorio Magno
• Values declared by the organisers: loyalty, respect, teamwork

San Vito, the Turniata, and the meaning of the date

The name is no coincidence. On 15 June, San Gregorio Magno celebrates San Vito with the Turniata, one of the most evocative anthropological and religious rituals in all of Campania: shepherds lead their flocks and animals, decorated for the occasion, to the chapel of San Vito Martire and walk around its perimeter three times in a counter-clockwise direction, while the priest imparts a blessing in Latin. It is an ancient pastoral tradition linked to the protection of livestock, and the football tournament represents its contemporary, youthful version: the same celebration, experienced by the children of the town and their peers arriving from outside.

Inside the Gregorian Summer

In 2026, the tournament was included in the Gregorian Summer programme, the festival promoted by the Municipality that accompanies residents and visitors from June to September. The programme was presented on 11 June 2026 in Salerno, at Palazzo Sant'Agostino, the seat of the Province, with Mayor Nicola Padula and representatives of the provincial authority and the Mountain Community. After the tournament and the Feast of San Vito, the calendar continues with the Angiolillo Folk Festival on 6 August in Piazza Municipio, the Bacco Festival from 10 to 12 August, and above all with the 33rd Baccanalia, from 19 to 23 August: the historic Via Bacco and its over 600 cellars carved into the rock open up for tastings of typical dishes, local wine, and wandering folk music. The season closes on 7 September in Piazza Amendola with the patronal feast.

Why it is worth a visit

Those arriving from outside will not find an international tournament with massive brackets, but something rarer: an Apennine town in the Salerno area that organises itself around its children for nine days, with stands full of families and visiting clubs discovering a village where the ancient ritual of the flocks coexists with Under-15 matches. For those visiting the upper Tanagro Valley in mid-June, it is the most direct way to enter the real life of the Municipality of San Gregorio Magno.