VdA Music Potlach

VdA Music Potlach is a music and cultural event in the Cilento area of Southern Italy, created by the cultural association VOJTO and supported by the Municipality of Valle dell’Angelo and the local Osteria “La Piazzetta”. The project was funded through an online crowdfunding campaign and was conceived as a space for cultural exchange, artistic expression and civic participation. The event brought together associations, youth groups, musicians, artists and cultural organisations from several towns across the Cilento National Park, including Rehub Alburni, Balconica, Dynamicor, Laurino Antica Civitas, Sfavilla, several local Youth Forums, and the Comitato 14 Luglio – Musica e Tradizioni, alongside the artistic project Racconti a specchio, curated by Ilenia Vertullo and Francesca Schiavo Rappo. 

VdA Music Potlach was born from the initiative of a group of young people from Cilento who wanted to connect different communities and grassroots organisations across the region. Inspired by the traditional concept of the potlatch- a collective gathering based on the exchange of goods, ideas and knowledge - the event transformed music and art into tools for cultural exchange, social cohesion and the regeneration of inland communities. Artists and performers participated voluntarily, offering their work freely to the community. Over the years, numerous bands, musicians, artists and associations contributed to the project, creating a growing network of cultural actors committed to the future of the Cilento area. 

The Music Potlach aims to create an open, inclusive and resilient community, bringing people together through the universal language of music and art. It is conceived as a social laboratory where people can meet, exchange ideas and experiment with new forms of community life, while recognising and celebrating individual creativity. More broadly, the project explores alternative ideas of social progress, work, consumption and leisure, reconnecting them with local traditions, collective rituals and the relationship between people and the natural environment.

VdA Music Potlach therefore represents more than a music festival: it is a grassroots experiment in civic activism, cultural participation and community resilience, using art and collective action to support the regeneration of a small and economically disadvantaged territory.