As booking opens for this year's Wexford Festival Opera, Festival Director Rosetta Cucchi celebrates the 75 anniversary of 'one of the world's most distinctive opera festivals'.
For seventy-five years, something extraordinary has happened every autumn in Wexford.
As the days grow shorter and the light softens over the harbour, the town begins to change. Windows fill with posters, music spills from rehearsal rooms, cafés buzz with anticipation, and visitors arrive from every corner of the world. For a few magical weeks, Wexford becomes a meeting place of voices, stories, and dreams. Opera lives here.
In 2026 we celebrate the 75th anniversary of Wexford Festival Opera, and as the box office prepares to open, it is impossible not to feel both gratitude and wonder. What began in 1951 as an inspired idea among passionate music lovers has grown into one of the world's most distinctive opera festivals. And yet, at its heart, the spirit remains the same: curiosity, courage, and the joy of discovery.
Watch: Rosetta Cucchi introduces the 75th anniversary programme
The founders of the festival believed something very special — that opera did not belong only to the great capitals of the world, but also to a town like Wexford, rich in imagination and hospitality. They believed audiences would embrace the thrill of hearing rare works brought back to life. They believed that music could bring people together across cultures and generations.
Seventy-five years later, we know they were right!
Each year, audiences travel to Wexford not only for the beauty of the music but for the atmosphere that exists nowhere else. There is a sense of adventure here. The festival invites audiences to discover unfamiliar operas, forgotten masterpieces, and new perspectives on the art form. But just as important is the human experience — the warmth of the town, the conversations between strangers who quickly become friends, the feeling that something meaningful is happening together.
Watch: Wexford Festival Opera - 75 years of extraordinary
For me personally, my journey with Wexford began many years ago, and I feel I owe my artistic life to the festival — the finest springboard a young artist could hope for. In 2020, when I had the honour of becoming Artistic Director, it was a moment filled with excitement, dreams, and plans for the future. Yet it was also the year the world changed.
The pandemic arrived suddenly and dramatically. Theatres closed. Performances stopped. Artists everywhere faced uncertainty. For a festival built on gathering people together through live music, the challenge was immense. And yet, what happened in Wexford during that time revealed the true soul of this festival.
The Wexford people are the guardians of the festival's spirit.
Instead of silence, there was resilience. Instead of fear, there was determination. Together with our extraordinary team, our artists, and our partners, we found ways to keep the spirit of the festival alive. We reimagined performances, created new formats, and continued to share music even under the most difficult circumstances.
It was not easy. But it was deeply moving.
And through all of it, one truth became clearer than ever: Wexford Festival Opera does not belong only to its stage. It belongs to the community that surrounds it.
Watch: Wexford Festival Opera Live - Le Trouvère by Giuseppe Verdi
The people of Wexford never abandoned the festival. The town stood beside us with generosity, patience, and belief. Even when the streets were quieter than usual, there was a shared understanding that the music would return. And return it did!
Today the audiences are back in full force. Our theatres are once again filled with excitement, applause, and discovery. Visitors from across Ireland and from around the world are returning to experience the unique magic of Wexford.
But if the audiences have returned, there is one group who truly never left: the people of Wexford themselves. The Wexford people are the guardians of the festival’s spirit.
The festival could not exist without the dedication of its volunteers, whose warmth and enthusiasm welcome visitors every year. They are the smiling faces that guide audiences through the town, the quiet heroes who help the festival run with such grace and hospitality. And Wexford’s businesses; its shops, restaurants, pubs, hotels, and cafés create the atmosphere that makes the festival so special. Opera does not happen here in isolation; it happens within the life of the town itself.
That is why the 75th anniversary feels so meaningful. It is not simply a celebration of performances or productions. It is a celebration of relationships between music and community, between artists and audience, between Wexford and the world.
As the box office opens for the 2026 festival, I warmly invite everyone from long-time friends to first-time visitors, to be part of this historic year. Whether you have attended the festival for decades or have never experienced it before, this anniversary season is the perfect moment to discover what makes Wexford so unique.
Come for the music. Come for the discovery. Come for the atmosphere that transforms this beautiful town every autumn.
But above all, come and join us this October to share in the joy of a tradition that has been alive for seventy-five years.
The curtain is rising once again. And the adventure continues.
Wexford Festival Opera runs from October 15th - 31st 2026 - priority booking is now open here
