For several weeks each summer, the Salzburg Festival transforms its namesake Austrian city into one massive performance arts venue. The event, which will run this year from July 18 to Aug. 30, brings internationally acclaimed entertainers and 250,000-plus culture lovers together for more than 200 concerts, operas, and theatrical shows.
The festival traces its roots to a 1920 staging of Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s “Jedermann” on the steps of Salzburg Cathedral. That practice has become a tradition over the last century, and the play on Cathedral Square is the event’s signature offering. A number of special shows will be part of the centennial celebration, including the one-night-only “100 Years of Jedermann” show on Aug. 22, new presentations of “The Magic Flute,” and concerts by the Vienna Philharmonic.
The program always includes performances of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” which in 1922 became the first opera staged at the festival. Many other works by the composer, who was born in Salzburg, are also typically part of the festival.
While a number of productions are ticketed, many free shows take place during the event’s six-week run.
For more information, go to salzburgerfestspiele.at.
Top photo: “Jedermann” at the Salzburg Festival
Photo by CC Wikimedia Commons/Christian Michelides: bit.ly/33wviDz
