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Austria's largest operetta festival! The Lehár Festival Bad Ischl 2026 - swinging through the summer

In this sunne: The Lehár Festival Bad Ischl 2026

The Lehár Festival Bad Ischl is the largest operetta festival in Europe and unique in its diversity and quality. Every summer, musical entertainment theatre at the highest level is presented to an international audience.

What is the Lehár Festival Bad Ischl

The Lehár Festival Bad Ischl is a theatre festival in the Upper Austrian spa town of Bad Ischl, primarily dedicated to the performance of operettas. The organization of a summer festival, which was to present light music and operetta, was considered from about 1950. In Bad Ischl, the presentation of musical entertainment theatre had been a tradition since the time of Emperor Franz Joseph. Developed from the tradition of summer theatre for spa guests, operetta festivals were created here.

However, the Second World War not only meant that there were hardly any artists specialising in operetta, such as those who emerged from Vienna's numerous operetta houses, which were also closed during the time of the so-called theatre death, but there was also no longer an adequate venue in Bad Ischl.

Eventful history of the festival

As early as the beginning of the 1950s, plans were made to hold a summer festival. Bad Ischl was predestined to become a focal point of the music theatre scene – after all, the imperial city looked back on a long-standing summer theatre tradition. In addition to the Salzburg Festival, whose focus is on drama and serious music, operetta festivals were to be created in Bad Ischl in the future.

However, the actual implementation of the Operetta Festival in the 1950s failed because, in the opinion of the initiators, there was a great shortage of sufficiently selected artists in Austria at the time. In addition, there was a lack of a venue. At the end of the 1950s, however, the International Society for the Care and Promotion of the Operetta "The Operetta" was founded in preparation. The association was to devote itself to the task of reviving the operetta and setting up a documentation centre.

All dates at a glance of the Lehár Festival Bad Ischl 2025

Sat, Jul. 11, 2026 19:30 Congress and Theater House Bad Ischl, Kurhausstraße 8 Bad Ischl

Sat, Jul. 18, 2026 19:30 Congress and Theater House Bad Ischl, Kurhausstraße 8 Bad Ischl

Fri, Aug. 14, 2026 19:30 Congress and Theater House Bad Ischl, Kurhausstraße 8 Bad Ischl

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