Sponz Fest (Morra De Sanctis stop)

Sponz Fest, the festival of Alta Irpinia

Sponz Fest is the event conceived and directed by singer-songwriter Vinicio Capossela. Born in 2013 in Calitri, it has become one of the most recognizable cultural highlights of Alta Irpinia, in the province of Avellino. The name comes from the local dialect, where "sponzali" refers to a wedding: the festival is presented as a grand collective marriage between music, words, theatre, and community. Each edition revolves around a theme that weaves through concerts, meetings, hikes, workshops, and collective rituals, with a special focus on the relationship between people and places.

The Morra De Sanctis stop

In its more itinerant editions, Sponz Fest has not limited itself to Calitri: the project has involved several municipalities in Alta Irpinia, including Morra De Sanctis, alongside Cairano, Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, Villamaina, and Lacedonia. In Morra De Sanctis, the heart of the stop has always been the Castello dei Principi Biondi Morra, which in 2018 hosted the festival's preview with the meeting "Nature and culture, a marriage under discussion," featuring anthropologist Marco Aime, writer Michela Murgia, and Vinicio Capossela himself. Furthermore, the "Sentieri e Selve" (Paths and Woods) routes departed from the castle square: a visit to the manor and the village, breakfast with local products, and then a walk towards Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, with a stop in the Montevergine woods.

The 2026 edition: "Sponz Im-Bosck"

The fourteenth edition is titled "Sponz Im-Bosck" and is scheduled from August 26th to 30th, 2026. The theme is the forest, interpreted as a place of biodiversity, memory, and coexistence, with an explicit reference to Dylan Thomas's "Under Milk Wood." The focal point of the edition, however, is the ancient village of Calitri and the natural area of Gagliano, renamed Montecanto for the occasion: at the moment, no specific event has been announced for Morra De Sanctis. Visitors arriving from the municipality of Morra De Sanctis can easily reach Calitri, which is just a few kilometres away along the Alta Irpinia road network.

What to expect at an Sponz edition

• Evening concerts with Italian and international artists, ranging from singer-songwriter music to Mediterranean folk music
• Theatrical performances and radio-style storytelling created with local companies
• "Imboscate" (Ambushes), morning nature excursions accompanied by music
• The "Libera Università per Ripetenti" (Free University for Repeaters), a series of lectures and conversations open to everyone
• Workshops for children, tournaments, folk dances, and community dinners

It is a formula that mixes high and low culture without hierarchy: a singer-songwriter concert might be preceded by a dawn walk and followed by a square dance until late at night.

Morra De Sanctis, the home of Francesco De Sanctis

The Municipality of Morra De Sanctis is located in the hinterland of the province of Avellino, in Campania, at an altitude of just over eight hundred metres, in a landscape of ridges, oak forests, and open fields. The town owes its name to Francesco De Sanctis, the great literary critic and minister of unified Italy who was born here in 1817: his birthplace now houses the Literary Park dedicated to him. The Castello dei Principi Biondi Morra, whose origins date back at least to the 9th century and which was transformed into a noble residence in the 16th century, was donated to the Municipality by its last owners in the 1980s and is now home to the Civic Antiquarium.

Why you should attend

Sponz Fest has become an exemplary case of a festival capable of telling the story of inland areas without rhetoric: it is not a stage dropped from above, but an event that involves brass bands, local associations, cooks, hikers, and residents. For those visiting Alta Irpinia at the end of August, the week of Sponz is the best time to traverse these villages, including Morra De Sanctis, and understand why this part of Campania deserves much more than a quick stop.