The Arena di Verona 2027 programme

What is on at the Arena di Verona in 2027?

Five opera productions, one ballet and six single-night events, 51 evenings in total by our count of the official calendar.

Verdi dominates again. Aida plays in both house versions: Gianfranco de Bosio's historical staging, modelled on the 1913 première, in the first half of the summer, and Stefano Poda's "crystal" Aida from the 2023 centenary in the second half. La Traviata and Carmen run almost the whole season, so they are the easiest to fit around a trip. Nabucco starts late, on 29 July.

Start times slide earlier as the evenings shorten: 21:30 for the opening nights, 21:15 through June and July, 21:00 from August. Most operas finish after midnight, so plan the walk back to your hotel and forget the last bus out of town.

What is new in 2027 compared with 2026?

Ballet returns, Carmen and the 1913 Aida come back, and both Puccini operas and the Zeffirelli Aida drop out.

The 2026 festival ran 12 June to 12 September with 50 performances and two Puccini titles, La Bohème and Zeffirelli's Turandot. Neither returns in 2027. Zeffirelli's Aida, seven nights in 2026, makes way for de Bosio's historical version, the one that recreates the look of the first Arena opera on 10 August 1913.

The Traviata is the same show: Paul Curran's Belle Époque production, which opened the 2026 festival in a first collaboration between the Arena and the Moulin Rouge. In 2027 it is a revival with its own premiere night on 25 June. Zeffirelli's Carmen, absent in 2026, is back for ten nights. Roberto Bolle gets two dates instead of one, and the season opens with a concert instead of an opera: Beethoven's Ninth, for the 200th anniversary of the composer's death.

Which 2027 nights are premieres and galas?

Five premieres and seven gala or ballet nights. They cost more and never get the early-booking discount.

The rate table sorts every evening into a price band. The opening (11 and 12 June) is the most expensive: EUR 420 for Platinum Premium, EUR 38 for the top steps. The premieres of each returning production follow: La Traviata 25 June, Carmen 2 July, Nabucco 29 July, Jonas Kaufmann 8 August and Poda's Aida 12 August. Ballet and galas have a band of their own, a little cheaper than premieres in most sectors.

Our view: skip the premieres unless the date matters to you. The staging, the orchestra and the stones are the same a week later, and on most regular nights the 1st Sector Stalls cost EUR 165 to EUR 180 against EUR 230 on the opening.

Who directs, conducts and sings in 2027?

The directors are known; the conductors and casts are not, and the Arena lists them as coming soon.

Every opera in 2027 is a house production the Arena has staged before: Poda's Aida comes from 2023, his Nabucco from 2025 and Curran's Traviata from 2026, while de Bosio's Aida and Zeffirelli's Carmen are long-running classics. On the production pages the cast boxes read "cast coming soon" as of 8 October 2026, and no conductor is named for any show.

The one name already on a poster is Jonas Kaufmann, with an evening built around him on Sunday 8 August at 20:15. If you are booking for a particular singer, wait for the cast announcement. If you are booking for the opera and the place, buy now and save the early-booking difference.

Which 2027 opera should a first-timer pick?

Aida, in either version. It was written for spectacle on this scale, and the 1913 staging shows why the festival exists.

The Arena is a Roman amphitheatre with no amplification for opera. Grand choruses and big staging carry; intimate scenes do not. That makes Aida and Nabucco the strongest picks, and Carmen a close third thanks to Zeffirelli's crowded streets. La Traviata is lovely, but it is a chamber drama in a stadium, better from the stalls than from the steps.

De Bosio's 1913 Aida is the traditional choice: painted sets, Egyptian columns, the look of the first festival night. Poda's crystal Aida is abstract, high on light and mirrors, and divides opinion. Our full comparison is in which opera to see in 2027.

How do you buy 2027 tickets?

Only from the Arena: shop.arena.it, the call centre, the box offices and the Vivaticket network. Buy before 4 November for regular opera nights.

The official channels are the online shop, the call centre on +39 045 8005151 (Monday to Saturday, 9:00 to 18:00), the box offices at Via Dietro Anfiteatro 6/b and Via Roma 1, and Vivaticket outlets. Tickets arrive as a PDF by email. The Arena forbids reselling tickets without its authorisation and may cancel irregular ones.

GetYourGuide and Viator do not sell festival tickets. What they do sell in Verona is the daytime Arena: the 45-minute guided tour from $44, for one. Early-booking savings, exclusions and the U30 and family rates are in our post on the 4 November deadline.

See the Arena by daylight with a licensed guide: 45 minutes inside the amphitheatre, priority entry included.

★ 4.6 · 45 minutes · from $44

Check dates → Tour details

Frequently asked questions