The Night of the Tammorra rekindles Piazza Mercato: Naples rediscovers its memory through drums, dances, and new generations.

For two days, Piazza Mercato was transformed into a large open-air stage, where popular music, tammurriate, traditional dances and songs met the Neapolitan public in a blend of sounds capable of crossing generations and territories. This is the result of the 24th edition of "La Notte della Tammorra", which recorded over ten thousand attendees, confirming the event's ability to bring the heart of

Naples is an important part of Campania's cultural memory.

Not only concerts, but also workshops dedicated to percussion and folk dances, occasions in which tradition was presented not as a heritage to be preserved under a glass bell, but as a living material, capable of being passed down and reinterpreted by new generations.

The event, organized by the Il Canto di Virgilio Foundation and part of the city's "Naples City of Music" program, brought together artists of different generations and sensibilities, transforming the square into a meeting point between historic folk music and its contemporary expressions.

In memory of Roberto De Simone

The underlying theme of this edition, however, was above all the memory of Roberto De Simone, who passed away last year, to whom artistic director Carlo Faiello dedicated the heart of the event.

A composer, director, musicologist, and tireless scholar of Southern Italian traditions, De Simone was one of the most important figures in the rediscovery and reimagining of Neapolitan and Campanian musical culture. His work went beyond the preservation of ancient songs and rituals: he transformed that heritage into theatrical and musical material, revitalizing it and bringing it to the attention of a much wider audience.

His work "La Gatta Cenerentola" has become one of the symbols of this journey. But equally important was his ability to shape and influence generations of artists. Among those who crossed his path were Carlo Faiello himself, Eugenio Bennato, Peppe Barra, and Lina Sastri.

Lina Sastri and that return to her origins

And it was Lina Sastri herself who represented one of the most significant moments of the event. Her presence in Piazza Mercato took on a significance that went beyond simple artistic participation.

Indeed, over fifty years ago, it was in this very place that Sastri made her debut in the opera "Masaniello," with a song written and commissioned for her by Roberto De Simone. Her return to the same square thus created a bridge between that young artist of her early days and the established protagonist of today, but above all, between two eras of Neapolitan culture.

A circle that the Night of the Tammorra wanted to reopen in the name of memory, demonstrating how some places in the city can become true living archives, capable of preserving stories, voices, and fundamental moments of Neapolitan culture.

From fishing boats to new voices

The new protagonists of folk and popular song took turns on stage: Irene Scarpato, Simona Boo, Lavinia Mancusi, Denise Di Maria and Margherita Abita, together with the band Ars Nova Napoli.
Their presence gave substance to one of the central themes of the event: the relationship between tradition and its future. The tammurriate, songs, and ancient dances were not confined to reenactment, but entered into dialogue with more contemporary languages ​​and sensibilities.

Alongside the new talent, the historic folk music groups returned, from the Paranza di Giugliano to the Paranza 'O Lione, from the Paranza di Terzigno to the Paranza dei Monti Lattari. A musical journey that also included the tarantellas of Montemarano, Cilento, Gargano, and Carpino, bringing to the audience the richness and variety of a tradition that cannot be encapsulated in a single form.

Also on stage were artists such as Enzo Gragnaniello, Maurizio Capone, and Tony Esposito, performers from different backgrounds but united by their connection to music and local culture.

A tradition that doesn't want to become a museum

The most interesting aspect of the 24th edition of the Notte della Tammorra is perhaps precisely this: the tradition was not presented simply as something belonging to the past.

The square has brought together past and present, established artists and young performers, historic groups and new musical trends. It's a formula that allows popular culture to continue to speak to a contemporary audience without losing its connection to its roots.

This, after all, is the vocation that the organizers attribute to the event: not to be merely the custodian of an ancient heritage, but to become a living cultural laboratory, in which new artistic expressions can meet historical ones in the spirit of continuity.

And so, for two evenings, drums and voices restored Piazza Mercato to a function deeply rooted in the history of Naples: that of a meeting place, a place of community, and a place of collective storytelling. A memory that doesn't remain stuck in the past, but continues to walk, dance, and, above all, to be heard.