Bayreuth to present special Ring Cycle in 2026; 30 sellouts this year as ticket sales rebound

A special Ring Cycle will be performed for the 150th anniversary Bayreuth Festival in 2026, the annual Richard Wagner showcase said as this season’s schedule ended with sellouts for all 30 performances. Bayreuth's new production of “Die Meistersinger von Nuremberg” will open the 113th festival next July 25. Valentin Schwarz’s 2022 staging of the four-night “Der Ring des Nibelungen” will be revived for the final time next summer and the 2026 Ring will be “not purely a concert version,” according to festival spokesman Hubertus Herrmann. The 150th anniversary festival will feature Bayreuth’s first production of “Rienzi.”