Arena Opera Festival 2026
Arena Opera Festival 2026

Imagine summer nights under a vast Italian sky, the ancient stones of a Roman amphitheatre glowing in golden light, music floating across Verona’s air: this is the magic of the 103rd Arena di Verona Opera Festival, running from 12 June to 12 September 2026.
Fifty evenings of opera, symphonic spectacle, dance, and unforgettable performances await those who wish to be swept away by artistry, emotion, and tradition.
The Festival opens in shimmering splendour with a fresh production of Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata, the most beloved of operas, renewed for 2026.
Two distinct versions of Aida follow: the “crystal” production by Stefano Poda, shimmering with translucencies and modern design (19 June – 24 July), and the legendary Zeffirelli staging, restored to its epic grandeur for seven evenings from 30 July to 10 September.
For lovers of Verdi’s dramatic power, Nabucco returns under Stefano Poda’s direction, running from 26 June through 9 September.
Then there are the luminous works of Puccini. La Bohème, youthful and tender, returns under Alfonso Signorini’s vision (3-25 July); Turandot, celebrating its 100th anniversary, resurrects the fairy-tale majesty of Zeffirelli’s design, with Oscar-winning costumes by Emi Wada, between 7 August and 11 September.
But the Festival is more than opera—it is spectacle in many forms. A highlight: Roberto Bolle and Friends, bringing dance to life on 21 July; Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, a powerful orchestral and choral force on 13 August; and Viva Vivaldi on 19 August, where The Four Seasons is transformed into an immersive 3D concert experience under Marco Balich’s visionary staging.
To witness La Traviata, Aida, Nabucco, La Bohème, Turandot, or one of the enchanting event evenings at the Arena di Verona is to be part of history. Every costume, every chorus, every note under the starry sky carries legacy.
Whether you are an opera connoisseur, a traveller seeking beauty, or someone who craves nights rich in music and memory, the Arena Festival 2026 promises evenings you will remember forever.
About the Arena Opera Festival
Arena di Verona is a Roman amphitheater, one of the most remarkable archaeological monuments in Europe. It was built in the I century. our era, in the last years of the reign of Emperor Augustus. Today "arena di Verona" is known all over the world thanks to the annual summer Opera festival taking place within its walls. The festival was opened on 10 August 1913 with a production of Giuseppe Verdi's Opera Aida. On the stage of the arena di Verona performed outstanding artists such as Renata Tebaldi, Maria Callas, Mario Del Monaco, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras, Luciano Pavarotti, Tullio Serafin, Riccardo Muti.
The Opera season annually attracts more than half a million spectators from all over the world. The repertoire of the festival is mainly mass, large-scale works ("Nabucco", "Troubadour", "Aida", "Carmen", "Turandot").
Although the Arena di Verona has always maintained its vocation as a performance venue throughout its millenary history: from the naumachie or staged naval battles of ancient Rome to the jousts of the Middle Ages, and on to Rossini in the early 1800s, it was not until 1913 that it became the true home of great open-air opera performances, with an Aida that epitomised the Art Nouveau trend of the time, reconstructed from original sketches and still beloved of audiences today.
Always true to its traditional role as democratic propagator of musical culture in Europe, as well as popular, accessible and universal home to musical theatre, loved by opera stars, crowned heads, Hollywood actors and audiences from all over the world, the Arena di Verona has always been one of the most influential locations for inclusiveness in art.