Sapori d'Autunno - Chestnut and Wild Boar Festival

An autumn festival in the heart of Irpinia

Every year, as the first mists rise from the Sabato valley, the municipality of Contrada — a town of just over three thousand inhabitants in the province of Avellino, Campania — dedicates a long weekend to the iconic products of the cold Irpinian season. "Sapori d'Autunno - Chestnut and Wild Boar Festival" is a village fair in the most authentic sense: it is not designed to attract massive crowds, but to revive a neighborhood and its family recipes. The event takes place in the alleys of the Rione Ospedale, the historic core gathered around the church of Santa Maria di Monserrato, which is decorated for the occasion with autumn ornaments and lights that make the village even more charming.

Chestnuts, wild boar, and porcini mushrooms

The festival menu tells the story of the Irpinian woods better than any guidebook. The chestnut is the true queen of the festival, served in every possible variation of the local culinary tradition: freshly roasted chestnuts from the embers, boiled chestnuts, baked chestnuts, soups, pasta dishes, and desserts. Alongside them, you will find wild boar, cooked in various styles and served in street-food sandwiches, as well as porcini mushrooms foraged from the chestnut groves surrounding the village.

• Boscaiola-style paccheri pasta with porcini mushrooms
• Pork loin with chestnuts
• Stewed wild boar and wild boar sandwiches
• Freshly roasted chestnuts prepared on the spot in traditional braziers
• Chestnut-based desserts and mulled wine to warm up in the evening

In previous years, in addition to the street-food stalls, the organizers have also offered dinners and a Sunday lunch by reservation, dedicated to those who prefer to sit down for a complete seasonal menu.

Live music and street performers

The gastronomy is only half the fun. Throughout the festival, the alleys of the district are enlivened by live music and street performers, who move between the food points, engaging the public. The atmosphere is the familiar and informal one of Irpinian village festivals: you walk around with a glass in hand, stop in front of a brazier, and chat with those who prepared the dishes. It is a format that works well even with children, as everything takes place outdoors in a compact space that is easy to explore on foot.

Contrada and the culture of the chestnut

To understand the festival, you have to look at the woods around the village. Irpinia is one of the Italian regions most deeply connected to the chestnut tree: here, the chestnut was not just a fruit, but for centuries the staple food of farming families, earning it the nickname "bread of the poor." Contrada, nestled at about 420 meters above sea level between the Picentini mountains and the Avellino basin, fully belongs to this landscape of chestnut and hazelnut groves that extends to Serino, Montella, and Bagnoli Irpino. A festival like "Sapori d'Autunno" is therefore also a way to pass on agricultural knowledge and a culinary tradition that risk being forgotten.

Why it's worth the trip

Contrada is located just a few kilometers from the provincial capital, Avellino, and is easily reached from Naples and Salerno: it is a perfect stop for an autumn Sunday, perhaps combined with a walk in the surroundings or a visit to Palazzo Villa-De Mansis, a 17th-century palace with an Italian-style garden that is the town's most famous monument. Visitors from outside the region will find here, on a smaller scale, everything that makes the festivals of inland Campania so recognizable: zero-kilometer products, popular prices, local volunteers at the stoves, and no choreography manufactured for tourists.

When it takes place

The event is traditionally held between late October and the first days of November, over a long weekend. The most recent documented edition took place from October 31 to November 2, 2025, while in previous years the festival was scheduled for late October. The dates for the next edition are usually released by the Municipality of Contrada's channels and the Sistema Irpinia portal of the Province of Avellino a few weeks before the event.