Wexford Festival Opera Lunchtime Recitals

What to Expect

Alongside the mainstage operas, Wexford Festival Opera runs a series of Lunchtime Recitals at the National Opera House on five dates across the back half of the festival: 20, 23, 28, 30 and 31 October 2026. These daytime concerts give emerging and supporting singers from the festival’s wider artist roster a solo platform outside the evening opera schedule, typically a shorter programme of arias and art song with piano accompaniment rather than a fully staged production. They are a lower-cost, lower-commitment way into the festival for anyone who cannot get evening opera tickets or wants a shorter, more informal taste of the standard of singing on show that October. The format sits alongside the festival’s other daytime programming, including Backstage and Breakfast tours and talks, which together turn the festival into a full-day event in Wexford town rather than just an evening one.

For visitors staying in Wexford for several days of the festival, the recitals are a practical way to fill the middle of the day between a late finish the night before and an evening performance ahead, without needing to leave the town centre. They also give festival-goers a chance to hear voices that may only otherwise appear in supporting or chorus roles during the evening operas, singing a self-chosen programme rather than a role written for them, which regular festival attendees often treat as one of the more personal, unpolished pleasures of the fortnight.

Good to Know

• Five dates: 20, 23, 28, 30 and 31 October 2026, National Opera House, Wexford town
• Daytime, lunchtime-slot recitals, shorter than the evening mainstage operas
• Book at wexfordopera.com or nationaloperahouse.ie, by phone on +353 53 912 2144, or at the box office, Monday to Saturday, 9.30am to 5pm
• A good option for a shorter or lower-cost way to hear festival singers perform
• Runs throughout the second half of the 15 to 31 October 2026 festival

Getting There

The National Opera House is on High Street in the centre of Wexford town, within walking distance of O’Hanrahan train station and the main quayfront car parks. Irish Rail runs from Dublin Connolly to Wexford in around two hours, and Bus Éireann and Wexford Bus both serve the town centre directly.