79th Bregenz Festival ends with rounded total of 249,000 visitors
Successful start for Lilli Paasikivi – visually stunning Freischütz thrills audiences once again
Bregenz, 14 August 2025. The Bregenz Festival came to a close on Sunday evening with a total audience of 249,000. In its 79th year – the first season under artistic director Lilli Paasikivi – the summer festival on Lake Constance presented a programme of some 80 events within a five-week span. The opera on the lake stage, Der Freischütz, has played to an audience of 180,682 in its second run. Lilli Paasikivi’s first, Nordic-themed festival programme has been enthusiastically received, with many events selling out.
Der Freischütz, which opened for its second season on the lake stage on 17 July 2025, has continued to draw visitors in droves. Providing no performances are cancelled due to bad weather before the Sunday evening finale, 180,682 people will have seen the visually stunning production by director and set designer Philipp Stölzl. That means 97 percent of available tickets have been sold for 27 performances in all, including the dress rehearsal and Young People’s Night (with two cancellations for bad weather). The Freischütz production on the lake stage will therefore have been seen by a total of approx. 374,000 people in its two-season run in 2024/25.
This year’s opera at the Festspielhaus, Andreas Kriegenburg’s production of George Enescu’s rarely staged masterpiece Œdipe, was enthusiastically received at its three performances. It was seen by a total of 4,411 people, which corresponds to 96 percent capacity.
“Nordic DNA” fascinates Vorarlberg audiences
In her first festival season, Lilli Paasikivi has presented her own personal, artistic DNA in an impressive manner with a Nordic-themed programme. The audience at Lake Constance accepted her invitation with curiosity and enthusiasm – almost all the “Nordic” events on the programme were sold out.
Tickets for La traviata go on sale on 29 September
The first new production on the lake stage under Lilli Paasikivi is La traviata, to be performed there for the first time in 2026 and 2027. Giuseppe Verdi’s famous opera will open the Bregenz Festival in its 80th season on 22 July 2026. The opera in the Festspielhaus will be The Excursions of Mr Brouček by Leoš Janáček, which opens on 23 July 2026. Booking for next year’s festival opens on 29 September 2025.
