Sant'Anastasia Festival

The week most awaited by the people of Grottolella

There is a specific moment when summer in Grottolella reaches its peak: the days of the Sant'Anastasia Festival, traditionally held around the first Sunday of August. For this small town in the province of Avellino—with just under two thousand inhabitants perched at about 580 metres above sea level—it is the event that draws back emigrants, relatives, and friends from neighbouring towns, filling the streets and squares of the historic centre until late at night.

The festival is more than just a programme of shows: it is a ritual through which an Irpinian community reaffirms its identity, mixing the sacred and the profane within the same hours. Morning in the church, evening in the square; the silence of the procession followed by the laughter of cabaret.

Sant'Anastasia and the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie

The cult revolves around the parish church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, a building of Norman origin initially dedicated to Saint Giles (Sant'Egidio) and later renovated and reconsecrated in the 18th century. Inside, it preserves marble altars with inlaid decorations in the chapels of Sant'Anastasia and Saint Vincent, which house the relics of the two saints.

It should be noted—a local curiosity that often surprises visitors—that the official patron saint of Grottolella is Saint Giles the Abbot, celebrated on 1 September. However, Sant'Anastasia holds an equally central place in the town's devotional calendar, and her August festival has become the most popular and widely attended event over the years.

A programme built by the town's youth

The proven formula distributes events over three consecutive evenings, from Friday to Sunday. The organisation is shared: on one side, the Festivities Committee, which handles the religious aspects and evening shows; on the other, the Youth Forum and the Catholic Action of Grottolella, which in recent years have contributed a day entirely dedicated to socialising, with workshops, games, and outdoor activities designed for children and teenagers.

Typical offerings during these three days include:

• yoga lessons and outdoor wellness activities;
• a treasure hunt for children and the collective creation of a mural;
• evening traditional games in the town squares;
• Neapolitan dialect theatre, featuring one-act plays from the repertoire of Eduardo and Peppino De Filippo;
• cabaret and live folk music evenings;
• the blessing of the animals, solemn mass, and the procession accompanied by the town band.

Piazza Angelo Maglio, the festival's stage

Piazza Angelo Maglio is the hub of the evenings: this is where the stage is set up, where families gather with chairs brought from home, and where the most intense moments take place, from theatrical performances to the show of the Bottari—the players of barrels, vats, and scythes who, in the Campanian tradition, mark an archaic and hypnotic rhythm. It is a rural sound heritage that survives in Campania precisely thanks to festivals like this.

The taste of Irpinia

As in every Irpinian village festival, the tasting of typical local products accompanies the evenings. We are in the heart of the land of Fiano di Avellino and Greco di Tufo, just a few kilometres from some of the most prestigious denominations of the Campania wine region: a good reason to extend your visit and discover the local wineries.

Why it's worth being there

The Sant'Anastasia Festival does not have the ambition of large festivals: it is an authentic, free event built on volunteering and proximity. Those arriving from outside will find a welcoming village nine kilometres from Avellino, a programme that alternates spirituality and light-heartedness, and the rare opportunity to see an entire community at work. For the Municipality of Grottolella, it is the moment when the town shows its best face.