The first step on your way to getting tickets is to write a letter to the Box Office stating that you would like to receive tickets to the festival. This short letter can be in German, English, or French. Make sure that you sign the letter, and send it with the proper postage to the following address:

Bayreuther Festspiele
Kartenbüro
Postfach 10 02 62
D-95402 Bayreuth
Deutschland

Telephone enquiries about tickets can be made as follows:
Monday to Friday between 11.00 am and 12 noon.

From Germany: 0921 78 78 0
From abroad: +49 921 78 78 0

The Bayreuth Box Office will not accept fax or e-mail requests, only letters. It is also important to send your letter by the end of September, at the latest. When I sent my original letter, I did it as soon as the festival closed at the end of August.

As soon as they receive your letter you will be registered and they will mail you a ticket application bearing your name, address, and your client number. You only have to write a letter once. Automatically, you will be sent a ticket application every year. It is important to remember that you must send the ticket application back with your request every year until you manage to get tickets. If you miss a year, you will lose your turn in line and you will have to start the process all over again.

Along with the ticket application you will receive an informative pamphlet indicating the works that will be presented at the next festival, the personnel responsible for the productions, and the conductors. The pamphlet also contains a calendar of the performances as well as a plan of the auditorium showing the different sections as well as the prices in euros.

IMPORTANT: you must send back the original application that you were sent. No xerox copies, faxes, or e-mails will be accepted.

A few months later you will receive a response in your mailbox. The first year you will receive a short letter stating that due to the fact that there were many ticket requests your particular order will not be able to be filled this year. You will receive a similar letter from the Bayreuth Box-Office for approximately the first six to eight years.

Some people have waited ten years for tickets, while for others the wait has been less.

If you are not into waiting a decade to get to the Festspielhaus there may be other ways to get to the Green Hill. On the day of performance there are always returns. If you do not mind lining up early and waiting for hours, chances are that you will be able to get a ticket. The box office opens daily at 1:30pm. Performances normally start at 4:00pm. Das Rheingold and Der Fliegende Holländer begin earlier.

A number of classical music travel companies run tours to Bayreuth every year. These tours always include good tickets to one performance of each opera being given, as well as additional sightseeing tours and special dinners. Many of these companies advertize in classical music magazines such as Opera News.

Finally, becoming a member of the Gesellschaft der Freunde von Bayreuth (The Society of the Friends of Bayreuth) will allow you to get a foot in the door. The society receives tickets annually, and your contribution goes towards financial support of the Bayreuth Festival. It is not cheap, though. The current joining fee is 260 euros, and the annual membership subscription is 205 euros.