In Paternopoli, in the province of Avellino, the grape harvest ends with feet in the vat. The Macenata is the traditional pressing of newly harvested grapes by foot in large vats, a harvest ritual that belongs as much to communal celebration as to winemaking.
Food journalist Luciano Pignataro describes it as a moment tied to agricultural work, local identity and shared memory: a rite revived and retold each year rather than left to nostalgia.
Today the Macenata is both things at once. The provincial tourism portal for Irpinia presents it as a festival reviving the historical grape-pressing ritual, connected with local wines, traditional food, music and dancing. Contemporary listings describe it as a food-and-wine event with tastings, music and cultural programming alongside the ritual itself.
What the Macenata is
At its center is pigiatura, the pressing of the grapes. People gather around the vats, music plays, and the harvest becomes a public act. The Irpinia tourism portal links the ritual to the wider process of winemaking and to the social life of the vintage: participation, dancing and communal eating and drinking around the new wine.
That double character — work and feast — is the point. The pressing produces must for wine, but it also gathers the village to mark the season together.
What to eat: sfrittuliata, stew and pizza jonna
The food tradition associated with the Macenata is harvest food: substantial, shared and local. Pignataro lists sfrittuliata, a meat-and-vegetable preparation, stew, and pizza made with corn flour and grapes.
The most identifying dish is the corn pizza with grapes, also called "pizza jonna." In Pignataro's account it is a simple but deeply local preparation: corn flour as the base, fresh harvest grapes for sweetness and juice. No complete ingredient list or preparation method is given in the sources consulted, but its meaning is clear — it tastes of the harvest itself, grain and grape together.
The recipe highlighted in the Pignataro article is attributed to Valentina Martone of Megaron in Paternopoli.
Visiting the festival
Recent listings place the event in Paternopoli's historic centre and around Corso Giuseppe Garibaldi, with food stands, wine, cellar tours, trekking and evening music alongside the pressing.
For 2026, listings point to the turn from late September into early October, with reports mentioning 2–3 October among the dates. Because sources give different schedules, check the current official programme before travelling.
What a visitor can usefully expect, according to the verified listings, is a small-town festival built around the ritual: watch the pressing, taste local wines and harvest dishes, walk between stands and cellars in the old town, and stay for music and dancing. The pizza jonna is the dish to ask for — it is the one most closely tied to the Macenata story.
