Bregenz Festival 2024: An exciting summer without construction sites!

Bregenz Festival 2024: An exciting summer without construction sites!

The Bregenz Festival, a cultural highlight on Lake Constance, can look back on an exceptionally successful season. Festival President Hans-Peter Metzler expressed optimism about the coming season, which will boast record revenues and visitor numbers. 27 performances are already planned for 2024 on the lake stage, which has a capacity of around 192,000 tickets. Despite this success, commercial director Michael Diem emphasizes that season reserves need to be tapped, highlighting the financial challenges the festival faces.

The year 2024 will be particularly important for the festival as the third stage of renovation and expansion of the festival hall will be completed. This enables an increase in efficiency and marks the first summer without construction work in the festival hall, which creates additional anticipation for the performances. The new artistic director, who took over her position on October 1, 2024, will direct the production of “Der Freischütz”. This opera by Carl Maria von Weber will have its premiere on the lake stage on July 17, 2025, and viewers can look forward to a gripping plot in which the official clerk Max makes risky decisions out of love.

Artistic highlights and premieres

In the next season, “Oedipe” will also be shown as the opening game on July 16, 2024. Director Andreas Kriegenburg plans to present this ambitious opera as one of the darkest and cruelest stories. The work places high demands on the artistic staff and offers both challenges and opportunities for creative development.

Another highlight of the 80th festival season is the premiere of Verdi's famous opera “La Traviata”, which will be performed on the lake stage on July 22, 2026. The revival of “The Excursions of Mr. Brouček”, directed by American director Yuval Sharon, is also attracting great interest. This production, premiering July 23, 2026, features an innovative set design and costumes by Jon Bausor. Robert Jindra takes over the musical direction. Some of the action even takes place on the moon, which requires additional imagination and creativity.

A look back at the festival history

The Bregenz Festival has developed into an international event since its founding in 1946. The first performances took place on converted barges before a permanent stage was installed in 1950. Over the years, the festival has grown continuously and now has a variety of performance options, including the large hall in the festival hall and the new workshop stage.

A central goal of the festival is to also reach the younger generation. Every year, around 10,000 young people are addressed through special programs that promote access to culture. Previous performances, including masterpieces such as “Turandot” and “Carmen,” were well received both then and now.

With a varied program for the coming years, the Bregenz Festival continues to be at the center of cultural life on Lake Constance. It is a place where music and art merge in an impressive setting and attracts audiences from near and far. Preparations for next season are already in full swing and the visitors' anticipation is palpable. For further information about the coming season, those interested can consult the official Bregenz Festival website: Small newspaper, Lake Constance experience and Lake Constance Vorarlberg.