The Aix-en-Provence Opera Festival
July 2026
clive paget
*** Preliminary Itinerary ***
Our annual tour to France’s premiere music festival returns, enjoying baroque operas and vocal recitals as well as contemporary premieres in outdoor venues and historic theatres
OVERVIEW
Each year in July, the epicentre of France’s musical life moves from the theatres and concert halls of Paris to sunny Aix-en-Provence. The first Festival d’Aix performances took place in the courtyard of the Archbishop’s Palace in 1948, when the focus was on Baroque music. Since then, it has expanded to become a three-week festival dedicated to lyric music of all periods, performed in a range of impressive venues, including the purpose-built Grand Théâtre de Provence, inaugurated in 2007.
Limelight Arts Travel’s 11-day tour includes two weekends, so we can be sure that all major performances are included. Performance details will be available in late 2025, at which time a full itinerary will be published. Accommodation is in a central 4-star hotel with swimming pool. As well as the Festival performances, there is a program of excursions to nearby sites of historical interest and natural beauty.
July 2026 marks the fourth consecutive year in which Limelight Arts Travel has offered a tour to the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.
TOUR LEADER
Clive Paget is a leading arts writer and critic and is Editor-at-Large for Limelight in Australia. He also writes for Musical America, BBC Music Magazine, Gramophone, The Guardian, and others on a wide range of topics. Currently based in the UK, over the past five years he has reported for Limelight from both New York and London.
Before moving to Sydney in 2008, he was Nicholas Hytner’s music theatre consultant at London’s National Theatre, where he initiated many new projects. In 1997 he co-directed the world premiere of Stephen Sondheim’s previously unperformed musical, Saturday Night, and presented many important American musicals at London’s influential Bridewell Theatre.
Highlights
Unpack for a long-stay tour with 10 nights in the centre of Aix, just minutes from Festival venues
Delight in a diverse program of 7-8 performances, including at least four fully-staged operas, solo recitals and vocal ensembles
Discover historic venues, including the courtyard of the Archbishop’s Palace and the eighteenth-century Jeu de Paume Theatre, as well as the modern Grand Théâtre
Traverse the charming streetscapes of Aix, the seat of the rulers of medieval Provence
Follow in the footsteps of Paul Cézanne and other artists
Explore historical cities such as Arles, and visit areas of outstanding natural beauty such as the Luberon and Calanques in Cassis
Questions?
Get in touch with us by telephone or email:
Image of the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, July 2023, courtesy Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and copyright Vincent Beaume
Image of Clive Paget copyright Sam Grimmer