The Salzburg Festival

The Festival was founded in 1920, when director Max Reinhard staged Hofmannsthal’s "Everyman". The play has been part of the Festival program ever since and is always performed on the same spot – in front of the cathedral.

When, in 1924, Max Reinhard succeeded with his plan to reconstruct a section of the former court stables to accommodate a provisional festival theatre, nobody imagined that this that this temporary solution would grow into today’s enormous Festival House.

Today, the Festival House accommodates three theatres: Seating 1,324 people, the Small Festval Hall is by no means small. It was only called so after the competition of the Large Hall in 1960. The Rock Riding School is certainly Salzburg’s most original theatre. Its 96 arcades, created in 1693, are ingeniously combined with the stage settings. The venue also features a roof that opens and closes within 40 seconds.

In all, around 5,000 people can participate in different cultural performances on one given everything.

Salzburg Festival Program