Initiated by Prof. Dr. Kordula Knaus (TU Dortmund, University of Bayreuth until 2025) and Johanna Danhauser (University of Bayreuth), the programme brings together key figures from Bayreuth’s cultural landscape and examines the festival anniversary from multiple perspectives.
Conference: Wagner’s Festival Concept between Tradition and Future
The international conference “Festivals! Yesterday – Today – Tomorrow” will take place from 9 to 11 July 2026 at Haus Wahnfried. In a collaboration between the University of Bayreuth and TU Dortmund, scholars explore Richard Wagner’s visionary festival concept and its impact through to the present day.
The focus lies on current challenges of international festival work, future perspectives for festivals in the 21st century, and tensions between tradition, innovation, and limited resources.
The conference is organized in cooperation with the Richard Wagner Museum and is funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM), the Upper Franconia Foundation, the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts, and the City of Bayreuth.
World Premiere: “Suddenly Walküre!” – A Festival Revue in Freaky Friday Style
Alongside the conference, an artistic team of students and alumni from the University of Bayreuth will present their own production. “Suddenly Walküre!”, a humorous and critical festival revue, will premiere on 10 and 11 July 2026 at 7:30 p.m. in Friedrichsforum’s Kleiner Saal.
Plot:
A musical theatre performer suddenly finds herself in the body of an opera singer—and must perform at the Bayreuth Festival. With no prior knowledge of Wagner, she is thrust into a world of myths, scandals, and historical shadows. Opera meets musical theatre; Wagner’s leitmotifs merge with rock ballads.
Under the artistic direction of Nic Schilling, Annabell Strobel, and Jonas Würdinger, alumni of the University of Bayreuth, together with current students of Music Theatre Studies, perform a piece that humorously and critically engages with the anniversary and its significance for the city.
Suddenly Walküre! is a production by Musica Bayreuth and Queeres Musiktheater Bayreuth e.V. in cooperation with the University of Bayreuth’s Musicology Research Group.
The project is funded by Festival150 as well as by the City of Bayreuth and the Upper Franconia Foundation.
Tickets are available via the Musica Bayreuth website.
