Novello al Castello XIX

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Novello al Castello XIX

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· Catignano (PE)

Map

Catignano (PE), from 1090 to today

The castle that isn't there

A festival born in 2006 in a single street, around a castle of which little remains. This is its story, with sources: where the records are silent, we say so.

Stone alley with tables, plants and lit lamps

The vanished castle

There is no standing castle in Catignano. The “castle” is the medieval castrum: a small walled, circular quarter at the western end of the ridge the village sits on.

Sources date its history to at least 1090, when it passed from the Diocese of Penne to the Abbey of San Bartolomeo di Carpineto. Stretches of sloping walls survive, and its ring shape can still be read in the loop of Via del Castello.

Palazzo Palmieri Ricci, from the late 17th century, stands on the remains of a 16th-century fortification and keeps a stretch of sloping wall in its basement.

Via del Castello is so unofficial that OpenStreetMap doesn't even give it a name, and many sat-navs can't find it. That's why we drew the festival map ourselves.

The ring of Via del Castello and the festival lanes, drawn from OpenStreetMap data.
1090
the first records naming it
223 m
around the ring of Via del Castello
late 1600s
Palazzo Palmieri Ricci, on the walls
Ladies and gentlemen, here we go…
Pro Loco Catignano, for more than ten years

Cutina and the Vestini

Before the castle there is a name: Cutina, the town of the Vestini that, according to Livy, held out against Rome, and from which Catignano is said to descend.

The name lives on: in the Pro Loco's web series (the “Cutina jail”), in the “Cutina's Carnival” and in a local liqueur brand.

Wooden signs with the names of the cellars on a stone wall

The family cellars

Old cellars where you eat well and drink even better.

The stands of Novello al Castello are cellars: storerooms, basements and wine cellars of the old town, reopened for two nights and furnished with old furniture and soft lights.

Each has a fond or dialect name, Zio, Zia, Nonna, Mastro, “La Cantin de…”, and serves one to three dishes plus the new wine. Mastro Bancone, Nonna Memena, Zia Emmuccia and Mastro Fox were already there in 2013.

Volunteers run them, and that's a choice: to give the village its due, the festival doesn't take outside food vendors.

To make the most of the local community, with volunteers only and very few local operators, we unfortunately cannot host outside food vendors.
Pro Loco Catignano, Instagram, October 2026

How many cellars, year by year

  1. 11 2014
  2. 12 2015
  3. 13 2016
  4. 19 2024
  5. 15 2025
  6. 13 2026

For 2017 to 2023 the sources don't give the number.

Nineteen editions

Always on a Friday and Saturday, between 4 and 17 November. The numbering of the early years isn't consistent and some editions left no written record: we mark them as such, with archive photos where they exist.

  1. 2006

    Edition I

    The first edition: Via del Castello only, “the oldest part” of the village, next to the castle's remains. The festival takes its name from that street.

    Source: Lacerba, 27/10/2024 , Il Centro, 15/11/2024

  2. 2007

    Undocumented

  3. 2008

    The blog calls it “Edition II”

    The Pro Loco blog announces it as the “2nd edition”: the early count doesn't match today's.

    Green sign hanging in a stone alley under a street lamp, reading “Catignano – Novello al Castello, 08-11-2008”

    Source: Blog Pro Loco 2008

  4. 2009

    Undocumented

    A folk group in straw hats with a drum kit and accordion on a stage decorated with straw and green and red drapes

  5. 2010

    The blog calls it “Edition IV”

    The blog calls it the “4th edition”.

    A table with a light-blue cloth decorated with vine leaves, a basket, wine bottles in a case and a pumpkin

    Source: Blog Pro Loco 2010

  6. 2011

    Zastava Orchestar plays. From this year there's a bus from Pescara and Chieti.

    Source: Photogallery Pro Loco , Blog Pro Loco 2012

  7. 2012

    Edition VII 16–17 November

    The bus from Pescara and Chieti, for the second year, at 10 euros. Banda Larga and Mo' Better Band play.

    Source: Blog Pro Loco 2012

  8. 2013

    Edition VIII 8–9 November

    A web series to launch the festival and the “cornettone contest”. Badabimbumband, a 12-piece Tuscan funk street band, plays, and so does Nunzio Karaoke.

    Source: Blog Pro Loco 2013

  9. 2014

    Edition IX 7–8 November

    11 cellars, between Via del Castello and Piazza Marconi. Taraf Fantomatik Orchestra and Nunzio Karaoke play.

    Source: Blog Pro Loco 2014

  10. 2015

    Edition X 6–7 November

    “10 years of Novello al Castello”: 12 cellars, and the festival reaches Via Fantacuzzi.

    The cake with the number 10 and the words “Novello al Castello 2015”

    Source: Blog Pro Loco 2015

  11. 2016

    Edition XI 4–5 November

    13 cellars.

    An aerial acrobat hanging from silks in front of the lit-up church facade

    Source: Blog Pro Loco 2016

  12. 2017

    Edition XII Undocumented

    No written source found: the Pro Loco's archive photos remain.

    A fire-breather spits a flame beside a stilt walker in a village alley

  13. 2018

    Edition XIII Undocumented

    No written source found: the Pro Loco's archive photos remain.

    A band in red sweatshirts plays among the crowd under a stone vault

  14. 2019

    Edition XIV Undocumented

    No written source found: the Pro Loco's archive photos remain.

    A fire-breather spits a flame between the village houses at night

  15. 2020–2021

    No edition

    No edition, most likely because of the pandemic. That's inferred from the numbering: no source confirms it.

  16. 2022

    Edition XV 4–5 November

    Back again: Via del Castello, Piazza Marconi and Via Roma.

    Source: Il Pescara, 2022

  17. 2023

    Edition XVI Undocumented

    No written source: an Instagram story highlight, “Novello 2023”, and the photos remain.

    A performer dances at the centre of a spiral of fire, surrounded by the crowd in the square

    Source: Instagram @prolococatignano

  18. 2024

    Edition XVII 15–16 November

    19 cellars, the reusable glass with its holder bag and, on Saturday, the “Notte rossa” until 5 am.

    An aerial hoop acrobat in front of the lit-up church facade

    Source: Il Centro, 15/11/2024 , Lacerba, 27/10/2024

  19. 2025

    Edition XVIII 7–8 November

    “The festival comes of age”: 15 cellars.

    Catignano’s main square packed at night, between lit-up palaces and white gazebos

    Source: Comune di Catignano, 2025 , EventiPescara, 2025

  20. 2026 This year

    Edition XIX 6–7 November

    13 cellars, two nights, and all we need is you.

    Source: Instagram @novelloalcastello

If you've been before, we're sure you'll be back. If you've never been, ask someone who has.
Pro Loco Catignano, for more than ten years

Who has played

World music, folk from everywhere and the songs and dances of the Abruzzo tradition, spread through the lanes: there is no main stage. Here is the roll of honour, as far as the sources tell it.

2011
Zastava Orchestar
2012
Banda LargaMo' Better Band
2013
BadabimbumbandNunzio Karaoke
2014
Taraf Fantomatik OrchestraNunzio Karaoke
2025
Danilo Di GiampaoloI MusicantiRockin' RiotMonkie TangoSyn CircusLow MaxNunzio KaraokeDalyrium BayZinharuaUkus in FabulaWunder TandemHITAKABUMDJ Daniel Jamaica
2026 this year
Nunzio KaraokeHobos Street BandZinharua
And among the guests the Pro Loco remembers
Nubras EnsambleRadio LausbergSans PapiersLi Straccapiazz

Sources

Research from 2026 across the Pro Loco's blog and social media, local press and the town council's websites. Years without a source stay marked as such.

The 19th edition

Friday 6 and Saturday 7 November 2026 · Old town of Catignano (Pescara)

This year's cellars Open the map