Operafest Lisboa & Oeiras 2026

Operafest Lisboa & Oeiras is back from Aug 5 to Sept 11 in its 7th edition! Oeiras and Lisbon will vibrate with opera for everyone, under the moto of "Enigma" with great classics, absolute premieres, other formats, cine-opera, the contemporary opera competition Maratona Ópera XXI, masterclasses, conferences and much more.

Operafest kicks off in Oeiras, in the unique setting of the Convento da Cartuxa, with Turandot, the last opera by Giacomo Puccini and one of the greatest operas ever, celebrating its centenary in an original production by the Hessisches Theater in Wiesbaden with the direction of Daniela Kerck, under the baton of Osvaldo Ferreira, with an international cast: Olesya Golovneva (Turandot), Rodrigo Garull (days 5, 8), and Ermin Ašćerić (days 6, 9) (Calaf). Also in Oeiras, Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro is performed, with Mónica Garnel's staging, Pedro Carneiro's music direction, and an amazing Portuguese cast.

Back in Lisbon, it is time for the absolute premiere of the Anatema performance, bringing together Catarina Molder and the dancer and choreographer Tânia Carvalho, celebrating the bicentenary of Portuguese novelist Camilo Castelo Branco and Enigma, Mist, Nothing performance by multifaceted artist Gustavo Sumpta. Cine-Opera at the Cinemateca Portuguesa with an unmissable quartet of films: E la nave va by Federico Fellini, Turandot by Franco Zeffirelli, Amadeus by Miloš Forman, and Aria, the anthology film that brings together ten great film directors around opera. Conferences exploring this edition's program by João Paulo André and Jorge Rodrigues at the Âmbito Cultural El Corte Inglés. 

Closing this Operafest, the absolute premiere of two operas: Secret Life of Thing by Francisco Lima de Silva and Last Movement by Pedro Laranjeira Finisterra, staged by Rita Calçada Bastos and music direction by Diogo Costa, at Teatro Camões, marking the 5th edition of the contemporary opera competition – Maratona Ópera XXI.