Vienna: The 2024 Bregenz Festival, a leading performing arts festival, kicked off in the western Austrian city of Bregenz on Wednesday, attracting dignitaries and tourists from around the world.
The focus of this year’s festival, Carl Maria von Weber’s opera “Der Freischuetz” premiered Wednesday night on a floating stage on Lake Constance.
This year’s festival features more than 80 events, including operas and orchestral concerts, and about 85 percent of the event’s over 220,000 tickets have been sold as of Wednesday, according to the organizers.
Hans-Peter Metzler, president of the festival, said at the opening ceremony that the festival offers a solution to problems of the current time: “to play music louder and more beautiful than ever before” as they are a powerful force for change and hope.
This year’s Bregenz Festival will run through August 18.
