[ PREPARING FOR THE FESTIVAL ] THE 2026 SETS ARE BEING INSTALLED ON THE FESTIVAL STAGES | Festival d’Aix—en—Provence

Behind the scenes, the Festival d’Aix is already bustling with activity! Every note and every movement are being fine-tuned in the rehearsal studios, while the sets are gradually being installed on the stages of the various Festival venues.

Explore the latest preparations with this photo report of the installation of sets for The Magic Flute and Requiem at the Théâtre de l’Archevêché. Next, artists will be taking over the space and bringing it to life. And before long, your patience will be rewarded: opening night is less than a month away!

Did you know? Most opera sets are built around custom-made metallic structures, which are transported on tour and then often recycled. To reduce its environmental impact, the Festival d’Aix has been working, since 2022, with four opera houses — the Opéra National de Lyon, the Opéra National de Paris, the Théâtre du Châtelet and the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie — to develop standardised structures designed to be reused from one production to another. As part of its commitment to this initiative, the Festival d’Aix incorporates these structures into its sets whenever possible: this year, they account for 34% of the total weight of the set for The Woman without a Shadow.