Wheat Festival (Harvest Festival)

A festival born from the wheat of the Miscano Valley

In Casalbore, a small town in the province of Avellino perched over 600 metres above the Miscano Valley, wheat has never been just a crop: for centuries, it was the very calendar of the community. The Wheat Festival, also known as the Harvest Festival, stems from this very history—the desire to bring back to the town square a social ritual that for generations involved the entire valley, amidst the fields that still shape the hills of the Ufita area today.

The initiative is promoted by the Terre di Casalbore association, in collaboration with the Municipality of Casalbore and Pro Loco Pangea, and has been part of the 'Estate Casalborese' summer programme for years. It is not a simple food fair: it is a participatory re-enactment where the village elders return to demonstrate agricultural techniques, and the younger generation learns them in the field.

The re-enactment: harvesting, 'pisatura a pede' and threshing

The heart of the event is the staging of the two decisive phases of the farming year. First, the hand-harvesting, with sickles and sheaves tied according to old-world techniques; then the threshing, in the ancient form of 'pisatura a pede', where horses walking in circles on the threshing floor separated the grain from the straw, while men used pitchforks and wooden tools to winnow the wheat.

• Demonstrations of harvesting with traditional tools
• Reconstruction of the threshing floor and horse-driven threshing
• Exhibition of vintage agricultural tools and ancient wheat varieties
• Stories and testimonies from the village elders

Around these activities, a broader discourse develops, which the association itself champions: the anthropological and social value of wheat, the quality of the varieties grown in the valley, the resulting flours, and their expert use in local gastronomy.

Songs, dances and conviviality

As per tradition, the work is punctuated by folk songs and dances: tammorre (traditional drums), accordions, and repertoires of Irpinian oral culture accompany the various moments of the day. The festival, by its very nature, brings together the sacred and the profane, ritual gestures and collective revelry, in an atmosphere of choral participation that is the true hallmark of the event.

The taste: bread, pasta and the flavours of Irpinia

In farming tradition, good food was an integral part of the harvest: breaks were meant to refresh the work crews, and tables were filled with bread, homemade pasta, and garden produce. The re-enactment preserves this aspect with tastings that highlight local flours, the cuisine of the Miscano Valley, and the Irpinia - Colline dell'Ufita PDO extra virgin olive oil, obtained from the Ravece cultivar, one of the region's true excellences.

Casalbore, a Norman village between ancient paths and archaeology

The event usually takes place between Piazza Castello, at the foot of the 12th-century Norman Tower, and the rural areas of the town, such as the Sant'Elia farmhouse, used in some editions for the harvesting portion. Visitors can take the opportunity to discover a surprising village: the archaeological site with its Samnite-era Italic temple, the necropolis, the Grotta di San Michele carved along the Pescasseroli-Candela sheep track, and the Santa Maria dei Bossi sanctuary. It is one of the most authentic ways to understand inland Campania, the agricultural heart of Irpinia, far from the beaten tourist paths.

When it takes place

The event traditionally falls in the heart of summer, between July and early August, coinciding with the end of the harvest. In 2025, the Harvest Festival was held in July and the Wheat Festival on August 3rd in Piazza Castello. The dates for the next edition are usually announced shortly before summer by the Municipality, Pro Loco Pangea, and the Terre di Casalbore association.