BAYREUTH FESTIVAL
*SOLD OUT*

Der Ring des Nibelungen, plus Der fliegende Holländer, Rienzi and Parsifal. Day trips to Bamberg and Nürnberg. H4 Hotel Residenzschloss Bayreuth.

The Bayreuth Festival has it all: pomp and pageantry, fanfare and feuding, musical epiphanies, production-related outrages, political clashes, foot-stamping approval and the occasional chorus of boos. It is evocative, exhilarating, all-consuming and unlike any other musical experience anywhere. You have likely heard tell of the bottom breaking wooden benches, of the lack of air-conditioning, of the hour-long intervals that make for seven-hour marathons at the Festspielhaus… but unless you have experienced it, you have not heard this music played live with such sublime perfection.

2026 will see a new, experimental Ring in Bayreuth, to mark the 150th anniversary of the first complete performance of Der Ring des Nibelungen as a cycle, which took place at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus in August 1876. This historic event marked the inauguration of the Festival in the opera house built to Wagner's specifications.

For the 150th anniversary staging, audiences can expect "an experiment of visionary power: a "production" that not only performs Richard Wagner's music drama, but also focuses on its reception history – through a visual level that constantly changes, expands, recomposes, and contradicts itself. For the first time in the Festival's history, artificial intelligence will play a role on stage – not as a character, but as a visual force."

More staging details from the Festival website: "Between presence and projection

The singers are at the centre of the performance, in a calm, almost sculptural presence. Their bodies become a fixed point in a visually bubbling cosmos of light, texture, history, and association, amidst projections that break open, constantly shift, and merge. What remains real, what is an illusion? Where does memory begin and interpretation end? The projections are more than stage sets—they are a reflection of a 150-year-old discourse. The AI that generates them has learned from countless images, voices, documents, and productions. It shows not just one ring, but many: the national myth, the sociopolitical upheaval, the artistic explosiveness, the romantic utopia, the deconstructed shadow. Each performance will be unique—because the images and associations don't stand still either.

The Ring as a resonance chamber

The project conceives of the Ring as an open resonance space, a work that continually demands to be retold – not despite, but because of its history. AI becomes a mirror of collective memory, but also a projection surface for our contemporary questions: Who tells history? Who creates images? And who do they belong to? Thus, the eternal validity of Richard Wagner intertwines with the transience of digital transformation. Sound meets code, myth meets machine, festivals meet the future. The stage becomes a laboratory of perception, a place where musical theater is not only performed but explored. This Ring challenges, invites contemplation, overexertion, curiosity. It is a Ring of questions, not of answers. And it is a Ring that aims to shed new light on Bayreuth – this place full of history and projection. Experience a musical theater that is both past and future, a Ring of the Nibelung that questions itself. And perhaps us as well."

Adding to this momentous occasion will be the first-ever staging of Rienzi in the Festival's history.

All seats for all performances are A1 (top) category, dead centre, in Parkett (orchestra) rows 10, 11 & 12. The group will be 16 maximum.

There are many Rings, but only one Bayreuth. It is the ultimate Wagner experience, to hear the Maestro’s music, in his city, in his opera house, with dream-casts and the best-possible orchestra for this music.

Der Ring des Nibelungen Musical Director: Christian Thielemann

Curator: Marcus Lobbes

Das Rheingold

Wotan: Michael Volle

Donner: Alexander Grassauer

Loge: Klaus Florian Vogt

Fricka: Anna Kissjudit

Freia: Evelin Novak

Erda: Christa Mayer

Mime: Gerhard Siegel

Fasolt: Mika Kares

Fafner: Peter Rose

Die Walküre

Siegmund: Klaus Florian Vogt

Hunding: Mika Kares

Wotan: Michael Volle

Sieglinde: Elza van den Heever

Brünnhilde: Camilla Nylund

Fricka: Anna Kissjudit

Siegfried

Siegfried: Klaus Florian Vogt

Mime: Gerhard Siegel

The Wanderer: Michael Volle

Fafner: Peter Rose

Erda: Christa Mayer

Brünnhilde: Camilla Nylund

Götterdämmerung

Siegfried: Klaus Florian Vogt

Gunther: Michael Kupfer-Radecky

Hagen: Mika Kares

Brünnhilde: Camilla Nylund

Waltraute: Christa Mayer

--- --- ---

Rienzi

Conductor: Nathalie Stutzmann

Production: Magdolna Parditka / Alexandra Szemeredy

Rienzi: Andreas Schager

Irene: Gabriela Scherer

Adriano: Jennifer Holloway

Paolo Orsini: Michael Nagy

Baroncelli: Matthias Stier

Parsifal

Conductor: Pablo Heras-Casado

Director: Jay Scheib

Amfortas: Michael Volle

Gurnemanz: Georg Zeppenfeld

Parsifal: Andreas Schager

Klingsor: Jordan Shanahan

Kundry: Miina-Liisa Värelä

Der Fliegende Holländer

Conductor: Oksana Lyniv

Director: Dmitri TcherniakovDaland: Mika Kares

Senta: Asmik Grigorian

Erik: Benjamin Bruns

The Dutchman: Nicholas Brownlee

ITINERARY

SUNDAY, AUGUST 2

Independent overnight flights to Munich (MUC).

MONDAY, AUGUST 3

Upon arrival in Munich, you are met and transferred to Bayreuth and the centrally-located H4 Hotel Residenzschloss.

19.00 This evening we gather for introductions in the lobby before our Welcome Dinner in the lovely hotel restaurant.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 4

Breakfast is included each day at our hotel.

10.00 This morning we take a guided walking tour of Bayreuth, featuring Haus Wahnfried, Wagner’s grave site, and the Franz Liszt Museum. Lunch is at leisure afterward.

17.00 We gather in the lobby and transfer to the Festspielhaus for Wagner’s Das Rheingold. 18.00 curtain.

20.30 Dinner is included afterward at Liebesbier.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5

10.00 This morning we visit the tranquil formal gardens of the New Palace and then enjoy an inside visit. We then tour the stunning Baroque Margravial Opera House. Lunch is at leisure after.

15.15 Gather in the lobby and transfer to the Festspielhaus for a late afternoon curtain (16.00) for Die Walküre. Dinner is included during the interval at the Green Hill Kitchen.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 6

09.00 Depart by coach for a half-day excursion to Bamberg, where we meet our guide, Dr. Dieter Bauernschmitt, and tour the highlights of this UNESCO jewel. Lunch is included. Return to Bayreuth by 14.00.

17.15 Depart for Der fliegende Holländer. 18.00 curtain. Afterward, the evening (dinner) is at leisure.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 7

Enjoy the morning at leisure.

15.15 We depart for Siegfried. 16.00 curtain. Dinner is included during the interval at the Green Hill Kitchen.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 8

10.00 Today we tour the Eremitage, the Old Palace of the Margraves, with its impressive grounds, Orangery and Sun Temple. Lunch is at leisure afterward.

15.15 We depart once again for the Festspielhaus and the first-ever staging of Rienzi at Bayreuth. 16.00 curtain. Dinner is included during the interval at the Green Hill Kitchen.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 9

10.00 Today we tour the Steingraeber & Söhne piano factory, where world-class pianos have been made by hand since 1852. Lunch is at leisure afterward.

15.00 We gather in the lobby and transfer to the Festspielhaus for a 16.00 curtain of Götterdämmerung. Dinner is included during the interval at the Green Hill Kitchen.

MONDAY, AUGUST 10

The morning is at leisure to pack for tomorrow's journey to MUC.

15.15 We gather in the lobby and transfer to the Festspielhaus for our final performance of the Festival: Parsifal. 16.00 curtain. Runs 6 h 20 m. Dinner is included during the interval at the Green Hill Kitchen.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 11

10.00 We check out and depart for Munich Airport, stopping in Nürnberg for a day of touring. We see the Nazi Rally grounds, Courtroom 600 where the Nuremberg trials were held, and the Nazi “art bunker.” After a delicious Farewell Lunch, we visit the Albrecht Dürer House, where Germany's most famous lived from 1509 until his death. We then continue to the Hilton Munich Airport where we say our goodbyes and spend the night for convenient departure from MUC the next morning.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12

Check out and depart according to your desired arrival time at your gate.

TOUR INCLUDES

• Top Category (A1) seats for Der Ring des Nibelungen, Der fliegende Hölländer, Rienzi and Parsifal

• 8 nights at the H4 Residenzschloss Hotel Bayreuth (4-star) and 1 night at the Hilton Munich Airport

• Full breakfast daily plus either lunch or dinner each day 

• Private tours as listed

• Airport-hotel transfers 

• On-site Tour Direction

• Comprehensive Tour Guidebook

FLIGHTS

Flights are not included in tour pricing. Return flights should be booked to Munich (MUC) for arrival on the morning of August 3, with departure the morning of August 12.

TRANSFERS

We provide airport/rail station—hotel transfers for arrivals and departures within within 3 days of the start/end of our tour. We also provide transfers for group meals and performances that are beyond a 10 minute walk.

MOBILITY

There is minimal walking with some stairs and cobblestones during the guided tours. As for all of our tours, we are happy to accommodate you regardless of your mobility level. Please make clear your mobility concerns at the time of registration. We provide transfers for group meals and performances that are beyond a 10 minute walk.

INSURANCE

We strongly recommend that all tour members purchase cancellation insurance upon registration. We can assist you with this, though you are welcome to purchase a policy at your own discretion. For more information about our travel insurance, click here.