Sports Festival

An open-air gym in the heart of Sarno

For one morning each year, the center of Sarno, in the province of Salerno, changes its look: Piazza 5 Maggio and Via Matteotti are cleared of traffic and filled with tatami mats, basketball hoops, platforms, and trial stations. This is the Sports Festival, an event where the Municipality of Sarno celebrates the right to sport and the vitality of the local community, inviting families to head out into the square and try their hand at dozens of disciplines.

The formula is simple and effective: no competitions or rankings, just exhibitions, demonstrations, and free trials open to everyone. Those strolling through the square can stop to try archery, step onto a weightlifting platform, learn the first steps of a dance, or put on boxing gloves under the guidance of qualified instructors.

Disciplines in the square

Every year, the program brings together dozens of local sports clubs and associations that take turns in the spaces set up along the pedestrian axis of the center. Recent editions have featured:

• Team sports: soccer, basketball, and volleyball, with mini-courts dedicated to children;
• Combat sports: karate, boxing, kickboxing, and freestyle wrestling;
• Dance in all its forms: classical, modern, and contemporary dance, choreographic dance, aerial dance, Latin dance, hip-hop and K-pop, breakdance, belly dance, and show dance;
• Gymnastics and fitness: rhythmic gymnastics, Pilates, fit pump, and functional training;
• Strength and precision: powerlifting, weightlifting, and archery;
• Outdoor activities: cycling and motor development courses for children.

Local champions

One of the most anticipated moments is the presentation of local athletes from Sarno who have taken the city's name to national and international stages. Recent editions have celebrated, among others, Angelo Crescenzo, Mariangela Correale, Fabrizia Pepe, Samuele Esposito, Serena Imbriaco, Dalila Ingenito, Matteo D'Ambrosi, and sisters Annachiara and Ermelinda De Vivo. In 2026, the event also hosted actor Antonio D'Aquino, known for the series «Mare Fuori», and the cameras of Sky Sport.

Sport, health, and inclusion

The Sports Festival is not just a showcase for associations: the Municipality of Sarno also uses it as an opportunity for health education. Each edition reserves space for information on sports medical examinations and the health protection of those practicing competitive activities, with the intervention of sports doctors. There is also a strong emphasis on inclusion: activities are designed to be accessible to children and young people of all backgrounds, based on the idea that sport is a universal language capable of uniting people of all ages and fostering respect, solidarity, and friendship.

Organizers

The event is promoted by the Municipal Administration of Sarno, with Mayor Francesco Squillante and Sports Councilor Stefania Pappacena, in collaboration with the Youth Forum and under the patronage of CONI, represented by the provincial delegate of Salerno, Renato Del Mastro. Technical partners include Decathlon, alongside numerous local sports associations that provide technicians, instructors, and equipment.

Sarno, the Agro Nocerino-Sarnese, and Campania

Nestled at the foot of the Picentini Mountains, near the springs of the river that gives it its name, Sarno is one of the most populous centers of the Agro Nocerino-Sarnese, at the northern end of the province of Salerno, in Campania. A city with a long agricultural and industrial tradition that has invested heavily in youth policies and grassroots sports in recent years: the Sports Festival, reaching its third edition in 2026, has become its most visible symbol, capable of drawing hundreds of families to the square in just one morning.