Tammorre & Zampogne Festival

An agro-pastoral festival in the Agro Nocerino-Sarnese

The Tammorre & Zampogne Festival takes place in Scafati, a town in the province of Salerno, Campania, just a few kilometers from Pompeii and the Vesuvius area. The venue is the "Nicola Nappo" Agricultural Fund, located at Via Nuova San Marzano 394: a farm that also serves as the largest agricultural asset confiscated from the Camorra in the entire Agro Nocerino-Sarnese region. This choice of location defines the festival's identity as "agro-pastoral," blending traditional music, land, and human rights.

Tammorre and zampogne: the instruments of a living memory

The tammorra—the large frame drum that accompanies Campanian tammurriate—and the zampogna—the pastoral bagpipes of the Southern Apennines—are the two instruments that give the festival its name. They are the centerpieces for concerts, itinerant performances among the fields, and listening sessions that showcase a repertoire still practiced in Southern towns, from sanctuary feasts to begging songs and work chants. This is no museum exhibit: the groups taking the stage are vibrant ensembles, many rooted in the Vesuvius, Irpinia, and Salento territories.

Evening music, afternoon debates and workshops

Each day follows the same structure, which is the hallmark of the festival: debates and seminars in the afternoon, and live music in the evening. Topics include the dignity of agricultural work, land reclamation, the restoration of the Sarno River, legality, and social rights. Alongside public discussions, there are workshops on traditional instruments—dedicated, for example, to the Pimonte tammorra or Salento tambourine techniques—and documentary screenings about musician communities.

• Evening concerts of Campanian and Southern folk music
• Itinerant performances among the farm fields
• Public workshops on tammorra and tambourine
• Debates on agricultural labor, the environment, and legality
• Screenings and meetings with scholars, unionists, and musicians

A confiscated asset turned into a celebration

The agricultural fund is named after Nicola Nappo, an innocent victim of the Camorra, and has been managed since 2018 by the A.T.S. Terra Vi.Va. The festival is a way to bring people, music, and work back into land returned to the community: the civil commitment aspect is not a decorative appendix, but the very reason the event was born. Visitors find a genuine rural setting, complete with greenhouses, cultivated fields, and open-air spaces, far removed from the typical city stage.

Organization

The concept and artistic direction are by Antonio Matrone, known as 'o Lione, one of the most renowned tammorrari of the Vesuvius area. The organization is led by the Associazione culturale degli Scettici together with the Flai Cgil of Campania and Naples and a network of local entities: Alpaa, Libera, the Eteria cooperative, Radio Siani, and the Orto Cento Passi Association.

When to go

The event takes place in spring and lasts three days, from Friday to Sunday. The fourth edition took place from March 13 to 15, 2026, the third from April 4 to 6, 2025, and the second from March 15 to 17, 2024. It is easily accessible from Naples, Salerno, and all Vesuvius towns, designed for a diverse audience: families, musicians, folk tradition scholars, and the simply curious.