The Giorno della Santarosa

A festival born around a pastry

In Conca dei Marini, one of the smallest municipalities in the province of Salerno and all of Campania, the end of August has a distinct scent: that of the Santarosa sfogliatella. The Giorno della Santarosa is the event that celebrates this pastry in the very place where, according to tradition, it was created: the Santa Rosa monastery, perched high above the Tyrrhenian Sea. For one evening, the village turns into an open-air theater, with cooking and pastry stations scattered along the streets and small squares of the town.

The memory of the Santa Rosa monastery

Tradition tells us that it was the nuns of the Santa Rosa conservatory in Conca dei Marini who first shaped this curly puff pastry filled with cream and black cherries. Every August 30th, the feast day of Saint Rose of Lima, the abbess of the monastery would gift the sfogliatella to the village inhabitants. It is from that ancient gesture that the event takes its name and meaning: not a costume re-enactment, but a contemporary way to keep a community memory alive, sharing it with both residents and visitors of the Coast.

How the evening unfolds

The event layout, consolidated in its first editions, features a culinary journey through the village: from the Santa Rosa church to Piazza Olmo, passing through historic center lanes like Via 1° Maggio and Via Roma. It begins in the early evening with chef stands, continues with master pastry chef stations, and concludes in the square with a concert and DJ set.

• Opening of chef stands in the early evening along the village streets
• A journey dedicated to interpretations of the Santarosa sfogliatella by master pastry chefs
• Live music and entertainment in Piazza Olmo until late at night
• Tastings and drinks included in the participation contribution

Chefs, pizza makers, and master pastry chefs

The format brings together cooks from the Amalfi Coast and Campania, as well as nationally renowned pizza makers and pastry chefs, supported by local wineries and businesses. In the 2025 edition, ten chefs—including Alfonso Crescenzo and Peppe Guida—and eight master pastry chefs, with the Pansa family of Amalfi among the protagonists, worked side by side. Each professional signs a dish or a reinterpretation of the iconic pastry, served in tasting portions: participants compose their own menu as they move from one station to the next.

The charitable heart of the event

The Giorno della Santarosa is more than just a gastronomic evening: the entire proceeds are donated to charity, which is why the whole village rallies together. The 2025 edition raised 35,000 euros, distributed among the Costa d'Amalfi hospital (16,000 euros for a pediatric cardiac ultrasound and a stretcher), the Stella Costa d'Amalfi association for Lafora disease research (10,000 euros), the "Conca Cardioprotetta" initiative for defibrillators and BLSD/PBLSD training (4,300 euros), and the Santa Rosa church (4,700 euros for new seating and maintenance work). As the organizers summarize, here tradition becomes a tool for culture, and culture becomes a concrete opportunity for solidarity.

Who organizes it

The event is organized by La Compagnia della Santarosa APS, a charitable association chaired by Tiziana Carbone and founded together with Nicola Pansa and Antonio Vuolo, in collaboration with the Municipality of Conca dei Marini, led by Mayor Pasquale Buonocore. The project is rooted in the Santarosa Pastry Cup, the pastry competition that first brought national attention back to the village's signature dessert. In July, the association kicks off its year of activities with the "Nel nome della Santarosa" evening in the Santa Rosa church, during which the donation report and the date of the summer event are made public.

Conca dei Marini, the stage

A few hundred inhabitants, a handful of staircases, white houses clinging to the rock, and terraces overlooking the sea: Conca dei Marini is a vertical village that fills up in summer without ever losing its intimate scale. The municipal territory is home to the Emerald Grotto, the small fjord, and the Conca cape with its Saracen tower. Participating in the Giorno della Santarosa is therefore also an opportunity to discover one of the least crowded corners of the Coast, just a few kilometers from Amalfi and Furore.

Why it's worth the trip

Because eating a Santarosa sfogliatella in Conca dei Marini, at night, with the sea below and the village lights glowing, is an experience that is hard to replicate anywhere else.