Salzburg Festival 2020

The Salzburg Festival, the most important cultural event in Salzburg, has announced its plans for the Whitsun Festival and the August Festival following the Austrian government’s statement on the status of the lifting of the Corona-related restrictions on 7 April. After the Easter Festival has already been cancelled, the Whitsun Festival has now also been cancelled.

A phased plan was presented for the August festival and the final decision on whether it can take place was announced by 30 May. And if so, to what extent. Cancelling the planning for such a mega-event from one day to the next is likely to be difficult or impossible. The Salzburg Festival in summer brings about 270,000 visitors to the beautiful city on the Salzach every year.

From Richard Strauss to William Shakespeare

Opera, drama and concerts with renowned orchestras, conductors and actors are planned. Elektra by Richard Strauss, Tosca by Giacomo Puccini or The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart are on the programme, as is Richard III by Wiliam Shalespeare. And of course Jedermann, with whose performance the festival began. On 22 August 1920, the call of Everyman rang out for the first time on Domplatz.

The start of advance ticket sales has initially been postponed to 14 April. And the start of the Salzburg Provincial Exhibition “Great World Theatre – 100 Years of the Salzburg Festival”, which was planned for 25 April, has also been postponed for the time being.

Let us hope that the Austrian government’s plan to deal with the pandemic will work and that public life in Austria will soon return to normal. Information on what will happen next for the Festival can be found here.

Salzburg Festival

Published 27. June 2021Updated 29. April 2023
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