Tirata Festival

A festival born from Irpinia's humblest dish

The Tirata Festival is one of the most cherished events of the summer in Calabritto, a town of just over two thousand inhabitants nestled between the Picentini Mountains and the upper Sele Valley, in the province of Avellino, Campania. Established a few years ago by the permanent committee «Calabritto in Festa», the event has already secured a permanent spot on the August calendar, the week when the village fills with emigrants returning for the holidays and visitors from neighboring towns.

What is 'tirata'?

The 'tirata' is an essential dish: water and flour, nothing else. The dough is kneaded thoroughly and then 'stretched' (tirata) by hand, using an ancient technique that gives the pasta its name and requires patience, strength, and precision. There are no molds or machines: just the palm of the hand and expertise passed down from generation to generation. In Calabritto, it is primarily the local women who preserve this technique, and on the day of the festival, work begins in the morning so that the 'tirate' arrive hot on the plates of the public by evening.

Such a dish tells a great deal about the history of these places: a mountain cuisine built on scarcity, where flour—wheat or, in the autumn variant, chestnut—was the ingredient always available, and the rest was done by the cook's hand. The Calabritto 'tirata' has obtained the De.Co. (Municipal Denomination of Origin) recognition, a mark that certifies its deep bond with the territory.

How to eat it

• Tirate with sausage ragù, the richest and most requested version;
• Tirate and chickpeas, the classic home-style dish, simple and hearty;
• Local cured meats, cheeses, and side dishes offered by the food stalls set up in the square;
• Wine and beer served at shared tables under the town center's festive lights.

Folk music and dancing in the square

The festival is not just about gastronomy. After dinner, Piazza Giacomo Matteotti, the heart of the town, transforms into an open-air dance floor. In the 2025 edition, the stage hosted a concert by maestro Tonuccio Corona, featuring a repertoire of Campanian folk music including tammurriate, tarantelle, and dance songs, followed by a DJ set by El Caribe with Latin rhythms until late at night. The previous year, the protagonists were i bottari, with drums, barrels, and scythes marking the rhythm of one of the most recognizable musical traditions in Campania.

Part of the Calabritto summer

The Tirata Festival is part of the dense calendar of August celebrations in the village, which includes the Feast of Our Lady of the Snows on August 5th, linked to the Marian sanctuary that overlooks the municipal territory, the day dedicated to «Calabritto in the World» designed for emigrants, and the celebrations of Saint Roch in the middle of the month. Those arriving for the festival will find a village in celebration for several consecutive days, with musical evenings, popular games, and religious events following one another.

What to see nearby

Calabritto is a good base for discovering eastern Irpinia: the chestnut groves surrounding the village, the trails and streams of the upper Sele Valley, the WWF Oasis of nearby Senerchia with the Ripe Rosse valley, and the sanctuary of Maria SS. della Neve. In autumn, the village returns to celebrate its raw material with the «Castagna Regina» festival, where the 'tirate' are prepared with chestnut flour: two different events, the same gastronomic identity.

Why it's worth going

It is a small, unpretentious festival with no entry fees, where the value lies in the gesture: seeing the pasta born under one's hands, eating it sitting next to those who prepared it, and staying in the square to dance when the plate is finished. For those looking for the real Italy of small villages, the Tirata Festival is a stop that rewards the journey into the Irpinian hinterland.