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HAPPENING 22–31 MAY 2026 | Rotterdam’s O. Festival for Opera, Music, Theatre returns with ten days of genre-bending performances across the city, from major theatres to unexpected sites that turn everyday Rotterdam into a stage.
Photo credit: Bart Grietens
O. Festival 2026: what you need to know
O. Festival will take place from Friday 22 May to Sunday 31 May 2026, marking the festival’s 21st edition. What began as Operadagen Rotterdam has grown into an international festival for opera, music and theatre, known for adventurous work that spills out of traditional venues and into the city itself.
The full O. 2026 programme is now live, and ticket sales are underway. According to the festival, this year’s edition features more than 150 performances, 55 productions and 40 locations in and around Rotterdam, stretching from the city centre to the harbour and the Kralingse Bos.
Highlights from the O. Festival 2026 line-up
The festival opens on 22 May with REMACHINE, by choreographer and director Jefta van Dinther with composer Anna von Hausswolff. O. describes it as a hypnotic clash of bodies, voice and technology, presented as a Dutch premiere. The opening night also includes First Night at Theater Rotterdam, with previews from artists in the festival programme.
Other headline productions include Mystica, directed by Kasper Vandenberghe, combining circus and music theatre in a ritual built around voice and the circus technique of hairhanging, and SEXODUS, a world premiere by Naomi Velissariou for Theater Utrecht, directed by Nicole Beutler.
On 29 May 2026, O. launches its new Brand New Musicals series with the premiere of TRADWIVES de musical by Club Satelliet at Oude Luxor Theater.
The wider programme now also includes Metropolis 2126, a future-facing walking performance through Rotterdam Central District, NOISE by Club Gewalt, An Elegy in the Kralingse Bos, and MŌDRANIHT. Songs of Winter War by Kyiv-based Opera Aperta. O. is also presenting a broader set of Dutch and international premieres across the festival.
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Ticket information
Tickets for O. Festival 2026 are on sale now. Visitors can choose from single tickets, rittenkaarten and passe-partouts. Prices start from €10, and O. also offers discounts for visitors under 30. You can find the latest ticket options and programme details on the festival’s official website (o-festival.nl).
Locations across Rotterdam
One of the things that makes O. stand out is its use of Rotterdam as both stage and backdrop. The 2026 programme includes performances at venues and locations such as Brutus, TR25 Schouwburg, Oude Luxor Theater, Theater Zuidplein, De Doelen, Kralingse Bos, Fenix, Paradijskerk, WORM UBIK, Buitenplaats Brienenoord and Verhalenhuis Belvédère, alongside site-specific projects in unexpected corners of the city.
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A quick look back at 2025
Last year’s festival ran from 23 May to 1 June 2025 and opened with Café de Verlossing, a folk opera by Akim Moïseenkov featuring local seniors alongside professional performers. It remains a useful reference point for the kind of scale, experimentation and city-wide ambition O. brings to Rotterdam each year.
DEEP END. O. Festival 2024. Photo credit: Salih Kilic
About O. Festival
O. Festival has evolved over the past 21 years from Operadagen Rotterdam into an internationally recognised platform for innovation in opera and music theatre. Known for its adventurous programming and commitment to accessibility, O. Festival continues to bridge genres and generations within the dynamic cultural landscape of Rotterdam.
