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Split Summer Festival
Split Summer Festival (1954...) is an art festival building its national and international reputation ever since the mid 20th century. Next to the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, it is a festival with the longest and shiniest tradition of the classical spectrum of performing arts (opera, drama, ballet, concert...), spreading in time the array of events: from Jazz concerts and film festivals, to exhibitions, performances and street theatre. The most persistent and the strongest organisation of the festival is the Croatian National Theatre in Split, the national theatre representing a crucial key venue in the cultural life of Split, and the vital point of the theatre life of Croatia as a whole.
71st Split Summer Festival – Five Premieres, Five Major Orchestras, Exploring the Idea of Leadership and Cult of Personality
The festival will take place in its traditional period from July 14 to August 14, 2025. Citizens and visitors can look forward to more than 60 opera, drama, ballet, and concert performances, as well as film screenings, art exhibitions, and other accompanying programs on 14 stages across Split and its surroundings.
This year’s Split Summer Festival marks the 130th anniversary of the birth of two major figures of Croatian musical heritage and proud sons of Split — Ivo Tijardović and Jakov Gotovac. The thematic focus of the program explores the concept of leadership and the cult of personality, as reflected in two major premiere productions: Tijardović’s opera Diocletian and Shakespeare’s drama Julius Caesar. The role of the writer in contemporary society is the theme of the second drama premiere, Fox, by Dubravka Ugrešić, while the ballet program offers two premieres: a neoclassical choreography by Denis Matvienko and a contemporary dance production by Maša Kolar. The musical program will culminate with performances by five major orchestras. A special feature of this year’s edition is the introduction of a new stage space near the Silver Gate of Diocletian’s Palace.
The festival will open with the premiere of Diocletian by Ivo Tijardović — a grand and magnificent opera about the founder of the city of Split, fully staged for the very first time. The first three acts will be performed at the Croatian National Theatre Split, while the final act will take place on Peristyle Square. The opera will be conducted by maestro Hari Zlodre and directed by Ivan Leo Lemo.
The drama program will present two premieres. On the new stage near the Silver Gate of Diocletian’s Palace, renowned Albanian director Qëndrim Rijani will stage Shakespeare’s tragedy, Julius Caesar, while the novel Fox by Dubravka Ugrešić will come to life on the Split stage under the direction and dramatization of Ivica Buljan.
The ballet program will also feature two premieres. Chopiniana and Walpurgis Night by the Ballet of the Croatian National Theatre Split will enrich the stage in Bene Bay on Marjan Hill, choreographed by Denis Matvienko, while choreographer Maša Kolar will present her contemporary ballet Othello at the Substructures of Diocletian’s Palace, in co-production with the Croatian National Theatre Varaždin.
The most performed Croatian opera, Ero the Joker (Ero s onoga svijeta) by Jakov Gotovac, will once again be staged at its iconic location in the town of Vrlika (by the spring), as well as at the Bene stage in Split. The cult production Laughter and Tears of Old Split will be revived at Sustipan, while Marulić’s Judith (Judita) will be performed next to the Church of St. Jerome on the southern slopes of Marjan.
Peristyle will also host a reprise of Puccini’s Tosca, conducted by maestro Sinkevič and directed by Goran Golovko. The musical program will feature performances by the orchestras of the Croatian National Theatre Split, the Croatian Radiotelevision Symphony Orchestra, the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, the Macedonian National Jazz Orchestra, and the Croatian Navy Orchestra, as well as the renowned LADO ensemble, and many other performers.
In addition to new premieres, the festival will offer a rich repertoire of repeat and guest performances, including O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night by the Istrian National Theatre – City Theatre Pula, and a variety of monodramas and plays such as Records from the Storm by Trpimir Jurkić, Snowdrop by Lana Barić, The Rest of Life by Lada Bonacci, Dalmatian Cuisine by Hrvoje Korbar, and Shakespeare’s Hamlet directed by Ivan Leo Lemo.
Visual art exhibitions, film programs, and literary evenings will further enrich the Split Summer Festival, reaffirming its status as the central cultural event of the summer in Split, which has been enhancing the cultural scene of Dalmatia for 71 consecutive years.
