Arsmondo Festival

The opera opens to the world

Launched in 2018 by the Opéra national du Rhin with a first edition dedicated to Japan, the Arsmondo Festival was born from the desire to place opera in a living dialogue with world cultures. Each year, the festival chooses a territory, a civilization, or a major theme and explores it through all the arts: opera, symphonic music, recitals, cinema, literature, photography, gastronomy, and conferences.

A new theme each year

Since its creation, Arsmondo has traveled with passion: Japan (2018), the Roma worlds (2022), Slavia (2023), Utopias (2024), the Mediterranean (2025), and the Islands (2026). Each edition is designed as an immersive journey that allows the public to discover a culture in all its richness, far beyond clichés.

Arsmondo Islands 2026: Island cultures in peril and resistance

The 2026 edition, Arsmondo Islands, takes place from March 12 to 22 and explores island cultures — fascinating havens but also territories on the front lines of environmental upheaval, migration, and geopolitical change. On the program: the opera Le Roi d'Ys by Édouard Lalo, a recital by tenor Pene Pati, the performance of L'Île de Tulipatan, world music concerts, screenings, and round tables.

The Opéra national du Rhin, the festival's setting

The festival primarily unfolds at the Opéra national du Rhin, Place Broglie, an 18th-century architectural gem and one of France's most beautiful opera houses. But Arsmondo also spreads to other venues in Strasbourg — media libraries, bookstores, cinemas, restaurants — and extends to Mulhouse (La Filature) and Colmar, the other two cities of the Opéra national du Rhin.

A festival that brings people together

What makes Arsmondo unique is its ability to bring together very different audiences: opera lovers, film buffs, readers, gastronomy enthusiasts, and world culture aficionados cross paths in a program that breaks down genre barriers. The festival helps make the opera house an open, vibrant place connected to major contemporary issues.