Wild Boar and Chestnut Festival

A festival that tells the story of the Irpinia woods

The Wild Boar and Chestnut Festival is the most anticipated autumn event in San Potito Ultra, a village of a few thousand inhabitants in the province of Avellino, in the heart of Irpinia. Here, Campania is not about the sea, but about the Apennine hinterland: chestnut groves, oaks, vineyards, and mountain cuisine that autumn naturally places at the center of the table. The event, reaching its twenty-eighth edition in 2026, was born precisely from this bond between the village and its woods.

Wild boar, the absolute star

The signature dish is wild boar, cooked according to home recipes and served at stands set up in Piazza Baroni Amatucci and along the streets of the historic center. The most requested dish is scialatielli with wild boar ragù, a fresh Campanian pasta that pairs perfectly with a long-simmered, flavorful sauce; alongside it, there is always grilled meat, with wild boar and pork cooked in plain sight.

The menu of recent editions has included in particular:

• Scialatielli with wild boar ragù, the festival's star dish
• Mixed grilled pork and wild boar, with sausages and ribs
• Vegetarian scialatielli with pumpkin, an alternative for those who do not eat meat
• Caciocavallo 'mpiccato, cheese hung and melted over the flame
• Roasted chestnuts prepared throughout the evening
• Homemade desserts and products made with chestnut flour
• Local wine from Irpinia, a land of great denominations

The Guinness World Record chestnut log

The most photographed moment of the festival is the presentation of the chestnut log, a dessert of extraordinary proportions that put San Potito Ultra in the Guinness World Records. It is prepared by local artisans and sliced in the square in front of the public: a collective ritual that perfectly summarizes the spirit of the event, where the chestnut is not just an ingredient but a piece of local identity.

Folk music and evenings in the square

The gastronomic side is accompanied by a musical program that favors the popular repertoire of the South: tammurriate, traditional songs and dances, and local folk groups. In recent years, the festival has been divided into two hubs: the main square with live concerts and Villa Elvira with more contemporary sets, so as to bring together audiences of different ages. The result is a party that begins with dinner and continues late into the night.

When it takes place and how it works

The event traditionally falls on the second weekend of October and lasts for three days. On Friday and Saturday, the stands open in the evening; on Sunday, however, the festivities begin at lunchtime and continue until supplies run out, a formula that over the years has encouraged many visitors to arrive early.

Who organizes it

The organization is entrusted to the Maria S.S. del Soccorso Festival Committee, the same group of volunteers that manages the patronal festivities in September and the Fusillo co' Ciurillo Festival. It is an event entirely self-produced by the village, with dozens of volunteers involved in the kitchen, at the stands, and in setting up the squares: a model of a festival that is still genuinely communal, far from the logic of large commercial events.

Why come

For those visiting Irpinia in autumn, San Potito Ultra is a stop that combines local cuisine, hilly landscapes, and village hospitality. It is also an opportunity to discover a municipality rarely included in tourist itineraries, just a few kilometers from Avellino and the great wine-growing areas of Taurasi, Fiano di Avellino, and Greco di Tufo.