Bayreuth trims 150th anniversary festival, citing budget cuts

The Bayreuth Festival dropped four productions from its 150th anniversary season in 2026 because of budget cuts, the festival said Thursday.

The German festival devoted to composer Richard Wagner attributed the decision to its employees' public-service sector labor contracts and an inability to increase revenue. The festival said it is 55% self-financed.

Bayreuth, built to the composer's specifications and run by his great-granddaughter Katharina Wagner, had planned to present all 10 of his mature works plus the festival debut of “Rienzi,” Wagner's rarely performed third opera.

Citing labor costs, the festival said it will limit its 2026 schedule to “Rienzi” along with the four-opera “Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung),” which inaugurated the festival in 1876; Wagner's final opera, “Parsifal,” which premiered at the house in 1882; and “Der Fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman),” Wagner's fourth opera and what is considered the first of his mature works.