Edinburgh International Festival unveils 2026 programme including five-hour Angels in America and Wagner Moura

The Edinburgh International Festival has revealed details of its 2026 programme, which will run from 7 to 30 August.

The season has been curated by festival director Nicola Benedetti and centres on the theme “All Rise”. The programme also marks the 250th anniversary of American independence and includes the festival’s largest number of American artists to date.

Across 24 days there will be 147 performances spanning opera, theatre, music and dance, including five world premieres and ten works commissioned by the festival. Alongside the stage programme, there will also be post-show talks, exhibitions and a Global Ideas Stage.

The opening concert will be performed by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, with Wynton Marsalis presenting his symphony All Rise. The residency will also include performances of Black, Brown and Beige by Duke Ellington and a collaboration with pianist Yuja Wang.

Orchestral residencies will also be given by the Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted by Kirill Petrenko, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel. The orchestral programme will also feature performances from the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America.

The theatre programme opens with A Trial – after An Enemy of the People, directed by Christiane Jatahy and featuring Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent). Inspired by Henrik Ibsen’s play An Enemy of the People, the work places the audience at the centre of a courtroom setting, with a jury selected from audience members helping determine the outcome of each performance.

Internationaal Theater Amsterdam will present the UK premiere of its staging of Angels in America by Tony Kushner, directed by Ivo van Hove. The production combines both parts of the play into a single five-hour performance and will be presented at the King’s Theatre.

Also receiving its European premiere is Clown Show, created and performed by Geoff Sobelle. The work, which has been commissioned by the festival, places clowns and live music onstage in a performance exploring ideas associated with the American Dream.

Other theatre works in the programme include Hang Time, written and directed by Zora Howard, which centres on three men reflecting on love and loss. The UK premiere of Four Walls and A Roof from Lina Majdalanie and Rabih Mroué explores censorship and free speech, drawing on the experiences of playwright Bertolt Brecht.

Palestinian company Khashabi Theatre will present Al-Sirah Al-Hilaliyyah (The Epic of Bani Hilal), directed by Bashar Murkus and developed with Khulood Basel. The production draws on a 14th-century epic poem and combines live music with physical theatre.

Belgian company Olympique Dramatique will present [seagull], a version of The Seagull by Anton Chekhov performed in Flemish Sign Language by a cast of Deaf and hearing performers.

Also in the programme is Taverna Miresia, created by theatre-maker Mario Banushi, which takes place in the setting of a family restaurant and draws on elements of ritual and memory. Jaha Koo will present Haribo Kimchi, set in a Korean snack bar and reflecting on cultural identity and migration.

For family audiences, French company Bakélite will bring Hostile, a one-person Spaghetti Western-inspired production performed by Olivier Rannou.

The festival will also include a world premiere opera, The Galloping Cure, by composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek. The production will be directed by Tom Morris and performed by Scottish Opera, conducted by Stuart Stratford.

A production of A Masked Ball will be presented by Zurich Opera House, while concert performances will include Don Giovanni with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Elektra with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

Dance productions will include the European premiere of Mere Mortals from San Francisco Ballet, choreographed by Aszure Barton with a score performed live by Floating Points and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Other dance works include Ihsane by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Exxy by Dan Daw and When Prophecy Fails from Groupwork.

Concerts at The Queen’s Hall will include a new commission, Passion of Mary Magdalene, written by Tansy Davies for the Dunedin Consort. Other performances will feature artists including Vilde Frang, Sean Shibe and Sheku Kanneh‑Mason.

Elsewhere in the programme, the Global Ideas Stage will be curated by Sarah Lewis alongside Benedetti. Visual arts presentations will include an exhibition from the Legacy Museum at the Playfair Library and an installation by artist Anne Hardy at the Talbot Rice Gallery.

More than 50,000 tickets will be available for £30 or less, including £10 tickets across the programme. The festival will also offer free tickets for young musicians and for NHS staff, charity workers and people receiving low-income benefits. Two dementia-friendly concerts will take place during the festival, and 43 accessible performances will be presented.

General booking for the 2026 Edinburgh International Festival will open on 26 March, with priority booking for members from 19 March.

Benedetti said: “Our 2026 Edinburgh International Festival is an invitation to “All Rise”. It’s a rallying cry to artists and audiences to stand with us, in our belief that through artistic endeavour we will see each other more truthfully and more tolerantly. Marking 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, we put America firmly in the spotlight. A nation whose ideals of freedom sit alongside deep hypocrisy, we are all drawn to its extreme possibilities because they reflect the aspirations and shortcomings we recognise in ourselves. The American story is filled with innovation and ingenuity, perseverance and prejudice – tensions that have fuelled some of the most extraordinary artistic achievements in history.”