La Notte della Taranta

La Notte della Taranta is a festival that, since 1998, has presented itself as a place of encounter and culture in the Mediterranean. It welcomes artists of every genre in a spirit of musical and cultural crossover.

The festival is organised and produced by the La Notte della Taranta Foundation, which also runs its own Orchestra Popolare. A 2025 survey of Italians' cultural consumption, promoted by Confcommercio and carried out by SWG, ranks it third among Italian cultural festivals for appeal and symbolic value, according to the official site.

It takes place in Melpignano, in Apulia, Italy. The 2027 edition is expected in August, but the dates are still to be confirmed, so check the organiser's announcements before planning travel.

The festival's musical tour travels across the villages, squares and communities of Salento, from the Grecìa salentina to the sea and from Lecce to Galatina. Each concert is framed as a popular celebration.

On the night of La Notte della Taranta itself, the Orchestra Popolare shares the stage with Italian and international artists.

The organisers link the festival to tarantismo, described as an ancient rite of music and dance meant to symbolically exorcise pain, trauma and existential crisis.

The pizzica is a traditional Salento dance that was used in tarantismo rites to heal people said to have been bitten by the taranta.

The La Notte della Taranta Foundation was set up in August 2008 on the initiative of the Apulia Region, the Province of Lecce, the Union of Municipalities of the Grecìa Salentina and the Diego Carpitella Institute. It became active in 2011.

In the squares of Salento, music and dance mark a rediscovery of tarantismo rites, and the pizzica meets music from other parts of the world.