This is the motto of the 2026 May Festival. Throughout its long history, the festival has always brought together tradition and the present: great works of history meet new interpretations by artists of our time. As a result, the festival functions as a lively chronicle of theater, opening up exciting new perspectives.

During the opening weekend on May 1 and 2, the "May Festival for Everyone" will transform the area in front of the State Theater into a place of encounters and the arts. The program—free of charge and mostly outdoors—will feature excerpts from the productions and will be a feast for all the senses! 

For example, the excitingly staged Wagner opera Tristan und Isolde (opens in a new tab), featuring a top-class cast, will be broadcast live on May 1 on an open-air screen in a picnic atmosphere. Before the performance and during the two intermissions, "walking archives" will answer your questions about the musical drama and look forward to an exchange. An exciting introduction to the piece is included.

On May 2, starting at 2 p.m., the family festival awaits you—a festival full of theatrical surprises with sing-along opera, workshops, and excerpts from the performances. At the end, around 8 p.m., there will be a very special, poetic circus theater magic show: Les Girafes (opens in a new tab) by the Compagnie OFF. A herd of seven gigantic red giraffes moves leisurely through the streets. With their supple necks, their slender silhouettes glide elegantly along, forming a ballet led by a singing diva. The renowned French street theater company fascinates people worldwide with its large-scale performances. 

• An elegant table invites you to take a seat and enjoy a unique atmosphere with other festival enthusiasts – welcome to Déjeuner en blanc (opens in a new tab)! During the three-course birthday dinner, memories and historical insights bring the eventful history of the Wiesbaden May Festival to life. Musical performances make this journey through time a very special experience. Join in the celebrations, dressed in white!
• Balcony scenes and more, from baroque to musicals – experience opera in the (opens in a new tab) picturesque courtyard of the Piano-Schulz piano manufacturing company in the pedestrian zone! A place made for music and performance. Four singers from the Wiesbaden Opera Ensemble – tenors Nathan Bryon and Richard Trey Smagur and basses Jonathan Macker and Fabian-Jakob Balkhausen – will take you on musical adventures of all kinds. And as the sun slowly sets behind the houses, the courtyard neighborhood comes to life...
• Do you love karaoke? Then head to the karaoke party (opens in a new tab) on May 16 at 6 p.m. in the studio of the Hessian State Theater, admission is free! Before and after the performance of InterEuroVision (opens in a new tab) by BOYS* IN SYNC, who playfully explore the political dimension of singing competitions, you are invited to sing karaoke to the greatest ESC songs of all time. 12 points for ...? 

The Burgtheater Vienna is visiting the State Theater with its production of the novel of the century, The Magic Mountain (opens in a new tab). Hans Castorp is dining with other international spa guests in the timeless atmosphere of the sanatorium when the thunderclap of World War I catapults him from the "enchantment" of the luxurious refuge into the trenches of Europe. Highly topical and impressively staged!

The acclaimed Malandain Ballet Biarritz already thrilled audiences at the Festival de Danse de Cannes with the premiere of Les Saisons (opens in a new tab). It musically combines Antonio Vivaldi's famous "The Four Seasons" with the lesser-known "Le Quattro Stagioni dell'anno" (The Four Seasons of the Year) by his contemporary and compatriot Giovanni Antonio Guido. Under the sign of the number four – symbolizing creation, balance, and harmony – the forms of Baroque dance meet a more natural, human language of movement. 

You can look forward to a concert that transcends cultural boundaries with the Trickster Orchestra (opens in a new tab) – an orchestra of musicians and instruments from all over the world. In their concert "Grenzenlos" (Boundless), the Berlin-based ensemble spectacularly succeeds in developing a common, contemporary musical language fed by many cultures, combining new music, classical, electronic, jazz, pop, hip-hop, and improvisation. Instruments and playing techniques from a wide variety of musical worlds come together here: from wind instruments such as the sheng or nay and string instruments such as the kanun, viola, and koto to jazz percussion and extended techniques of contemporary music. This music is pure groove!