Irpinia celebrates Sergio Leone and the western with Sapori Antichi

 

Eroica Fenice

By Claudia

July 5, 2025

In Torella dei Lombardi, in the heart of Alta Irpinia, between June 27 and 29 the Sapori Antichi festival was held, which celebrates Sergio Leone and the Wild West, bringing back to life the unique atmosphere of the western myth.

We at Eroica Fenice were present at the closing day of the event, and we fully captured its essence, closely following the various events that marked the grand finale of the festival and that have, in fact, shown us the authentic soul of the town.

The Irpinian village is transformed: three days of westerns and tradition

The event, promoted by the Municipality of Torella dei Lombardi and the Pro Loco Candriano, is a fixed appointment in the Torella summer calendar. It takes place in the large square of the village, dominated by the imposing Candriano Castle, a stone fortress that throws the entire village into an atmosphere with medieval features.

And it is precisely this meeting of apparently distant worlds, but which intertwine for the occasion, that makes it all truly special: popular and frontier culture merge in a magical explosion of flavors, sounds and customs

Sergio Leone: Irpinia celebrates the prodigy of cinema and his bond with the land

Not everyone knows, in fact, that Torella dei Lombardi is linked to an important cinematographic name, that of Sergio Leone, master of the spaghetti western, also known as the Italian western.

The director's father, Vincenzo Leone — known by the pseudonym of Roberto Roberti and a pioneer of silent cinema — was originally from Torella.

Strengthened by this legacy, Sergio Leone has been able, throughout his life, to combine

knowledge and talent with the awareness of his roots, giving light to true masterpieces of cinema that have made him an unforgettable icon of the big screen.

It is a deep bond, which explains why today Irpinia celebrates Sergio Leone with such a heartfelt festival: anexhibition inside the castle dedicated to the director, together with various cultural events focused both on his figure and on the territory and local traditions, accompanies the food and wine journey that for years, in this period, has unfolded through the streets of the town.

The last act of Sapori Antichi 2025: a day in the name of Sergio Leone

In addition to the entertainment activities for children, a sign that the organization has taken care to make the event accessible to all ages, and the performances of various blues and popular music groups, which followed one another on a stage placed in front of a room cleverly used as a saloon, we attended an interesting in-depth study on the figure of Sergio Leone, in the atrium of the Castle. A meeting embellished above all by the presence of Fabio Santini, journalist, radio host and lover of Leone's cinema, who has paid tribute to the great director several times through various artistic productions.

Sergio Leone's cinema and the suggestions of Irpinia

Santini told numerous anecdotes, both cinematographic and personal, about Sergio Leone, which helped to highlight the director's deep bond with the territory that gave birth to his father. A bond that Leone jealously guarded in his heart and that he tried to bring out in his films through small details, capable of giving his works a unique and profound richness.

In his speech, the journalist, in fact, highlighted how several recurring elements in Leone's cinematography recall the peculiarities of Irpinia: the wind, for example, recreated in Cinecittà with a simple crank fan, faithfully evokes the harsh mountain climate; in the same way, the intense colors and natural backgrounds typical of Leone's films reflect the characteristic features of the Irpinian landscape, thus integrating its roots into the visual dimension of his cinema.

The two geniuses of cinema: a tribute to Leone and Morricone

In the evening, then, the show The Two Geniuses of Cinema was held, during which Fabio Santini, once again the narrator, retraced the main stages of the collaboration between Sergio Leone and the illustrious composer, right on the notes of Morricone's epic music. An artistic and human partnership that has given life to legendary productions capable of changing the face of cinema forever: from schoolmates to colleagues on the set, Santini told us about the difficulties that two brilliant minds like theirs had to face to make their respective artistic visions coexist without coming into conflict.

The authentic taste of Irpinia blends with the charm of the western

Between the good Irpinian food and the carefully reconstructed western atmosphere, the festival was able to involve visitors, many of whom showed off cowboy hats and boots, thanks to faithful scenery full of symbolic elements of the Far West, such as the saloon, the bank, the sheriff's office and the prison.

Behind the scenes of Sapori Antichi: interview with artistic director Roberto D'Agnese

Finally, we had the opportunity to talk to the artistic director of the festival, Roberto D'Agnese, to find out the vision behind this original project, which intertwines local popular culture and Sergio Leone's cinematographic universe, and to learn about the news related to the next editions.

Enhancing the territory: how the festival celebrating Sergio Leone promotes Irpinia

Below is the full interview.

Sapori Antichi was born as a traditional food and wine journey, but over the years it has also taken on a cultural connotation. How did the idea of linking the event to the name of Sergio Leone come about?

When the guys from the Pro Loco contacted me, they were organizing this festival called "Ancient Flavors". They asked me for an idea to renew it: the new board had just taken office, there was a desire for change. For me it was a perfect opportunity: linking food and wine to the imagery of Sergio Leone's films was almost natural. We are talking about a direction of the highest level, of course, but which also tells a territorial cross-section. The scenes, the characters, the subjects of his films belong, after all, to the popular tradition. Hence the idea of recreating a western village and combining the two components: that of taste and that of imagination.

Does the Festival have an impact on the local community? And how was this new formula of the event, which integrates local traditions with western imagery, received by people?

I must say that the guys of the Pro Loco were immediately enthusiastic. I understood from the first edition that it would work: in the street I saw people walking around in western attire, spontaneously. So I said to myself: "Ok, this is something that can really grow". Because when a territory participates with this naturalness, it means that the idea has entered the heart of the community.

Irpinia is a land rich in stories and traditions, but it often remains outside the main tourist and cultural circuits, and events like this can represent a concrete opportunity to enhance the territory. What aspects of Torella dei Lombardi do you try to promote the most through Sapori Antichi?

I believe that every event is a 360-degree showcase of the territory. Those who participate can grasp different aspects: the artistic, the food and wine, the popular, and even the logistical.

An event becomes productive when it manages to gather many people and make them perceive the value of the territory. In this sense, "Ancient Flavors" is also an invitation to look out on a reality that, perhaps, was not known.

How much work is behind the artistic organization of a festival like this? And is there, in your opinion, an appointment in the program that best represents the spirit of the event?

Every event requires careful study. For me, organizing it is like writing the script of a film: I can already imagine what will happen, night after night. Every activity, whether it's music, theater or performance, is not put there by chance: it is part of a coherent story. What for some may seem like a simple jumble of events, for me is a narrative, a single body that develops over time.

And finally, are there any news or future projects for Sapori Antichi? What are your hopes for the next editions?

The idea is to be inspired more and more by Sergio Leone's style, following his example in the attention to detail and in the ability to evoke deep emotions with essential elements.

We try to convey, through the festival, that kind of narrative intensity: made up of atmospheres, but also of living contact with the territory and its popular traditions.

At the same time, we want to broaden the horizon, also musically, by exploring genres such as blues, rock, rockabilly, which, although not strictly western, tell a popular identity close to ours. After all, this is how Irpinia celebrates Sergio Leone: not only by looking at the past, but by innovating, remaining faithful to our soul but opening up to new ways of telling the story of the territory»