Solopaca Grape Festival

A festival born from grapes and devotion

The Solopaca Grape Festival has deep roots in an ancient tradition: as early as the 18th century, a brotherhood devoted to the Madonna Addolorata would collect agricultural offerings during the harvest, and grapes were the most natural gift in a town that lives by its vineyards. This custom faded during the 19th century but was revived in the late 1970s, giving rise to the modern event that now attracts tens of thousands of visitors to the Telesina Valley, in the province of Benevento. Even today, the procession is led by a statue of the Madonna Addolorata made entirely of black grapes, a sign of an unbroken continuity between popular devotion and rural culture.

Allegorical floats: works of art made of grapes

The heart of the festival is the parade of allegorical floats, traditionally held on the second Sunday of September, usually in the morning. These are not simple displays: each float is a mosaic composed of millions of white and black grapes glued one by one by the Maestri Carraioli (Master Float Builders), who are united in an association of the same name. The themes change every year, drawing from current events, fantasy, myth, satire, and cinema: in 2025, for example, the edition revolved around the theme "Myths and Legends."

The district workshops work for months in a friendly competition that feels like a palio: the floats are judged and awarded prizes, and the winning district keeps the banner until the following year. It is a craft that combines carpentry, set design, and painstaking patience, making Solopaca a unique case in Italy.

The historical pageant of the Ceva Grimaldi dukes

Since 1998, the historical pageant has marched alongside the floats, re-enacting the ducal era of the Ceva Grimaldi family, lords of Solopaca between the 17th and 18th centuries. Period costumes, authorities with municipal banners, flag-wavers, majorettes, folk groups, and the bottari with their traditional rural percussion instruments form a long procession that winds through the historic center amidst crowds of spectators.

Solopaca wine and the gourmet trail

Solopaca gives its name to one of the historic denominations of Campania, the Solopaca DOC, produced among others by the large Cantina di Solopaca, a cooperative that is also one of the festival's organizers. During the event, the municipal gardens host the gourmet trail, curated by the Merchants' Association, featuring tastings of Sannio wines and local gastronomic specialties: cavati (flour gnocchi), grilled sausage, stuffed peppers, and struscioli, traditional rustic pastries. In recent years, new experiences have been added, such as aperitifs in the vineyard and guided tours of the wineries, taking visitors directly among the vines.

Music, culture, and village life

The festival is not limited to the Sunday parade: in the days before and after, Piazza Perlingieri and other town spaces host concerts, folk music and taranta, DJ sets, children's shows, art exhibitions, conferences on wine and the territory, and classic events like the Cantasolopaca. The closing ceremony features the float awards and the lottery drawing, usually held at the Cantina di Solopaca.

Solopaca and the Telesina Valley

Solopaca is a small town in the Benevento Sannio area, nestled at the foot of Mount Taburno and overlooking the Calore river valley. The landscape is dominated by vineyards and olive groves, and a visit can easily be extended to the MEG, the ethnographic and gastronomic museum housed in Palazzo Cutillo, the thermal baths of Telese, the villages of the Telesina Valley, and the Taburno-Camposauro Regional Park. For the town, the festival is the defining event of the year: the moment when the community showcases itself and its centuries-old relationship with the vine.

When it takes place

The event is traditionally set for the second Sunday of September, with a program spread over several days, from the previous weekend until the awards evening. Exact dates and the detailed program are communicated each year by the Municipality of Solopaca and the Pro Loco in the weeks leading up to the event.