31°C 
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.
72nd Split Summer Festival – A Meeting of Tradition, Contemporary Art and the City
The festival will take place from 14 July to 14 August 2026, offering audiences a rich programme of opera, drama, ballet and concert performances at some of the most attractive open-air and historical venues in Split and its surroundings.
This year’s Split Summer Festival continues to develop its distinctive identity as a festival of encounters – between the classical and the contemporary, the local and the international, art and the city itself. The programme places special emphasis on site-specific performances that transform Split’s historic locations into unique theatrical and musical stages.
The festival will open with a new production of Verdi’s Don Carlos at the Peristyle, one of the Mediterranean’s most impressive opera stages. The opera programme also features revivals of Nabucco at the Peristyle, as well as Nikola Šubić Zrinjski and Ero the Joker (Ero s onoga svijeta) at atmospheric venues on Marjan Hill and in Vrlika. The programme will be further enriched by an opera gala concert conducted by Maestro Ivan Repušić.
The central drama event of the festival will be the premiere of Herscht 07769, based on the novel by one of Europe’s most acclaimed contemporary writers, László Krasznahorkai, directed by Ivica Buljan.
The festival will also present the premiere of Skup (Miser) by Marin Držić, a co-production of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival and the Split Summer Festival. The drama programme includes successful revivals such as Fox (Lisica), Judita, The Laughter and Tears of Old Split (Smij i suze starega Splita), Records from the Storm (Zapisi iz nevremena) and The Frenchwoman (Francuzica), as well as guest performances of To Be or Not To Be, Anna Karenina and Testosterone.
The ballet programme is led by the premiere of Ballet3, an original triptych bringing together choreographers Mirna Sporiš, Lukas Zuschlag and Takuya Sumitomo. Audiences will also have the opportunity to enjoy performances of Giselle and the guest ballet production Hamlet.
With its premieres, guest performances and acclaimed revivals, the Split Summer Festival once again confirms its status as one of Croatia’s most important cultural events of the summer season, bringing together outstanding artistic achievements and the unique atmosphere of the city of Split.
