How to Attend the Salzburg Festival?
A winter order, an allocation, a spring sale and tickets in your own name: what the festival sells, what we prepare, and what nobody can promise.
Last updated 6 October 2026 · 4 min read
To attend the Salzburg Festival, you need a ticket bought from the festival, in the name of the person who will attend. The summer programme appears at the end of the year; orders are then submitted over a few weeks — until 20 January for the 2026 edition — all treated equally, with priority for members of the Friends of the Salzburg Festival, patrons and subscribers. Direct sales, with seat selection, open in spring for what remains. Tickets are personalised, checked against an ID, and cannot be transferred without the festival's consent; for a sold-out evening, the festival itself puts returned tickets back on sale. TGZ resells no tickets: we prepare the order with you, placed in your name, and compose the stay around it.
The overall answer: a ticket in your name, bought from the festival
In Salzburg there are no enclosures and no hospitality packages sold with the seat: you enter with a performance ticket bought from the festival. That ticket is personalised. Only the person named on it is admitted, on presentation of a photo ID; a defined number of companions may enter with them, provided they pass the admission check together.
Everything therefore depends on the ticketing calendar, and on how you build your order. The table below follows the steps of the 2026 edition; the 2027 calendar will be confirmed by the festival.
| Route | How it works | What we do |
|---|---|---|
| Winter order | Submitted after the programme is published, before the deadline; all orders treated equally | Choose the evenings, venues and categories; prepare the order, placed in your name |
| Priority for the Friends of the festival | Orders from members, patrons and subscribers are processed first | Explain the process; membership is taken out with the association, in your name |
| Spring direct sales | Open for remaining seats, with seat selection | Complete your programme, subject to availability |
| Resale by the festival | For sold-out evenings, the festival resells tickets returned to it | Follow these resales for you, without promising anything |
The winter order: the main route
The summer programme appears at the end of the year — on 4 December 2025 for the 2026 edition. A window of a few weeks then opens during which everyone submits their order: the festival states that all are treated equally, with no advantage for those sent first. Allocation then begins, from late January.
Building a good order is a precise exercise: choosing evenings that follow one another without overlapping, combining a major production with a concert or an evening of theatre, planning alternatives for the most sought-after evenings, and matching it all with the hotel nights. That is where we come in, before the order goes out, in your name.
The Friends of the festival: priority, not privilege
The festival is supported by a Friends association with some 6,600 members in 60 countries. Its members' orders are processed first, according to length of membership; patrons enjoy additional priority for the most sought-after evenings.
Joining is a personal step, taken with the association: we can explain it to you, not do it in your place, and membership does not secure a seat for any given evening. For those who return every summer, it is often the right route.
Direct sales and sold-out evenings
In spring — on 27 March for the 2026 edition — the festival opens direct sales of the remaining seats, with seat selection. This is the moment to complete a programme, or to find a less sought-after evening.
For a sold-out performance, only one route remains open: the resale, by the festival itself, of tickets returned to it. We follow it for you, subject to availability, and tell you candidly when an evening is out of reach. We never buy tickets on a secondary market: a personalised ticket transferred without the festival's consent may be blocked, and its holder refused at the door.
What is free, and what is less so
Every summer the festival opens with a celebration lasting several days in the old town: concerts, theatre and readings, with free admission and free tickets for some events. The 2027 dates will be published with the programme.
For under-27s, the festival offers heavily discounted youth tickets for a selection of performances. And for everyone, the performance ticket doubles as a bus ticket on the city network during the festival, under the conditions of the 2026 edition.
Key takeaways
A Salzburg Festival ticket is bought from the festival, in your name: through the winter order, the spring direct sales, or the resale of returned tickets. TGZ Conciergerie, an independent house with no affiliation with the Salzburger Festspiele and no official status, resells no tickets: we prepare the order with you, follow resales without promising anything, and compose the entire stay around it.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, without exception. Only the person named on the ticket is admitted, on presentation of a photo ID; personalisation is done in the festival's customer account.
Not without the festival's prior consent. For a sold-out performance, the ticket can be returned to the festival, which resells it on commission. This is also how seats become available to others.
Not during the ordering window: the festival treats equally all orders received before the deadline. The advantage lies in the quality of the order — clear choices, alternatives — and in the priority given to Friends, patrons and subscribers.
We cannot guarantee it. We follow for you the resale of returned tickets, run by the festival itself, and tell you candidly when an evening is out of reach. We never buy on a secondary market.
It is not required. Membership gives priority in order processing, without securing a seat; it is a personal step, taken with the association, often worthwhile for those who return every summer.
The festival does not sell packages combining a seat with a dinner or a lounge. Dinner before or after the performance is arranged separately: that is precisely what we organise, in the old town or privately.
We resell no tickets. Tickets are bought from the festival, in your name; we prepare the order with you and compose the stay around it, on quotation.
Take it further
Your order, prepared with you
Tell us what you wish to hear and for how many evenings: we prepare the order, placed in your name with the festival, and compose the stay around it — on quotation, promising nothing that depends on the festival.