ViviAmo il Natale in Sant'Agnello (Christmas Markets)

The widespread Christmas of Sant'Agnello

ViviAmo il Natale is the Christmas program promoted by the Municipality of Sant'Agnello, in the province of Naples, in the heart of the Sorrento Peninsula in Campania. From the beginning of December until the Epiphany, the town transforms into a widespread village: illuminations line the streets of the center, wooden market stalls occupy Piazzetta Angri and via Diaz, while churches, squares, and hillside hamlets host concerts, nativity scenes, and workshops. It is a festival designed more for the community than for mass tourism, and for this very reason, it retains an authentic character, with a program built around four guiding themes declared by the organizers: tradition, taste, music, and sharing.

The markets of Piazzetta Angri and via Diaz

The core of the event is the Christmas markets, which open on the evening of the tree lighting and return on weekends and holidays. Piazzetta Angri and via Diaz are filled with wooden stalls entrusted to local artisans, producers, and associations, with the support of the Pro Loco of Sant'Agnello and the Youth Forum. You can stroll among the stalls accompanied by musicians and street performers.

• Local crafts: ceramics, wood, Christmas decorations, and creations by local associations
• Typical products: tastings of nougat, traditional sweets, and coastal specialties
• Seafood tastings linked to projects for the enhancement of the local catch
• Roaming entertainment: stilt walkers, jugglers, mimes, soap bubbles, and hula hoops

Music, nativity scenes, and Neapolitan tradition

The musical aspect is one of the most curated. The town's churches — the Sanctuary of the Santissima Annunziata, the Church of Santi Prisco e Agnello, the Church of the Carmine, the Chapel of San Rocco in Maiano, and the Church of the Nativity in Colli di Fontanelle — become concert halls for gospel performances, school choirs, classical ensembles, and shows dedicated to traditional Neapolitan Christmas songs. Alongside the music, there is space for the animated nativity scene and exhibitions of shepherds and figures of the classical Neapolitan tradition, joined by nativity scenes from other Italian regions and foreign schools: a way to tell how the same Nativity scene changes shape from one territory to another.

Children, families, and workshops

The program dedicates ample space to families, with Santa's House, creative and floral workshops hosted in school spaces, wooden games and board games on festive afternoons, narrated walks on sea trades, and circus entertainment. The closing is entrusted to the arrival of the Befana in Piazza Matteotti, with gifts and shows for the little ones.

Sant'Agnello and the Sorrento Peninsula

Nestled between Sorrento and Piano di Sorrento, the Municipality of Sant'Agnello overlooks the Gulf of Naples with its tuff cliffs and preserves historic villas and citrus gardens. In winter, the peninsula changes its rhythm: without the summer crowds, the alleys and squares return to the residents, and a festival like ViviAmo il Natale becomes the best opportunity to discover the daily side of a place otherwise known only for the beach season. The hillside hamlet of Colli di Fontanelle, overlooking the two gulfs, often hosts some events and is worth the climb alone.

When to go

The peak period runs from the Immaculate Conception bridge to the Epiphany. The best days to find the markets open and the town lively are the weekends of December, the days between Christmas and New Year's, and the first days of January. Dates and the detailed program are published every year in late autumn on the website and social channels of the Municipality of Sant'Agnello: it is advisable to check them before setting off, as some events are subject to changes due to bad weather.