Tammorra Fest

A festival dedicated to the tammorra in the heart of Cilento

The Tammorra Fest is a festival of Campanian folk music held in Omignano Scalo, the valley floor district of the municipality of Omignano, in the province of Salerno, in the heart of the Cilento region and within the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park. The name of the event refers to the tammorra, the large frame drum that has accompanied festivals, pilgrimages, and dances in Southern Italy for centuries: it is around this instrument that the entire program revolves.

This is not just a series of concerts. Tammorra Fest is a community festival: the square fills with musicians, dancers, food stalls, street performers, and families, and for two nights, the village relives the collective ritual of a folk festival.

From the first edition in 2022 to autumn evenings

The first edition was held on July 23 and 24, 2022, and was reported by the local press as the first festival dedicated to Campanian folk music born in Omignano. Even then, the structure was what would eventually become established: multiple squares involved, traveling groups, folk storytelling, Neapolitan tombolata, and concerts until late at night in Piazza Mercato.

In 2023, the festival returned in the height of summer, on July 14 and 15, again in Piazza Mercato, with free admission. With the fourth edition in 2025, the event moved to the beginning of October, on the 3rd and 4th, finding a home in Piazza Sant'Antonio: a choice that extends the Cilento events season beyond the summer and gives the festival a more intimate, autumnal village-fair atmosphere.

Folk music, dance, and street performers

The heart of the program is the concerts of traditional Campanian, Cilento, and Lucanian music: tammurriata, tarantella, pizzica, and begging songs performed by local groups. Over the years, bands such as Vico, Rittantico, Settebocche, Soleluna, and, in the 2025 edition, the Cilento-based Taranta Nobes and the Dance Tarantella group have taken the stage, with tammorre and tambourines as the absolute stars of the closing night.

Alongside the concerts, the festival usually offers:

• street performers — magicians, clowns, and bubble shows that open the evening;
• folk dance moments, with the audience invited to join the dance;
• cultural events, such as the conference "Brigands and... folk music" hosted in 2025 in the municipal library of Omignano Scalo;
• children's play area, with inflatables and entertainment, making the event suitable for the whole family.

The taste of Cilento: food stalls and local products

As in any self-respecting Cilento festival, music goes hand in hand with food. Along the square, food stalls are lined up, dedicated to typical Cilento products: extra virgin olive oil, cheeses and dairy products, cured meats, handmade pasta, homemade desserts, and local wines. It is an opportunity to taste, in an informal setting and at popular prices, a cuisine that in Cilento is also an identity — after all, the Mediterranean Diet was born here.

Who organizes the Tammorra Fest

The event is organized by the Cinema&Scuola Cultural Association in collaboration with the Pro Loco of Omignano Scalo, with the patronage of the Municipalities of Omignano and Salento, the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park, and the support of BCC Magna Grecia. It is an entirely volunteer-run project, built by a small village that has chosen to tell its story through its own music.

Omignano and Omignano Scalo

Omignano is a municipality of just over 1,600 inhabitants in Campania, perched at about 540 meters above sea level among the Cilento hills. The historic center overlooks the Alento valley, while Omignano Scalo, the lower district, developed around the train station and is now the commercial and social hub of the area: this is where the festival takes place, a short distance from Vallo della Lucania, the coast of Casal Velino and Ascea, and the archaeological site of Velia.

Why attend

Tammorra Fest is not a large festival for thousands of spectators, and it does not intend to be: it is a village-scale event, free in its tradition, where the relationship between musicians and the public remains direct. For those visiting Cilento out of season, it is one of the most authentic ways to encounter local folk culture.