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Music & Culture Festivals in Baalbek
Baalbeck International Festival
A town in the northern Bekaa Valley beside one of the largest and best-preserved Roman temple complexes in the world, the ancient sanctuary of Heliopolis, whose Temple of Bacchus and towering columns of the Temple of Jupiter host the Baalbeck International Festival each summer.
Run by Baalbeck International Festival, with published dates and a real program.
Dates & details verified against: Official event site ↗
Why here
The Baalbeck International Festival is the reason to be in Baalbek in summer, the oldest cultural festival in the Middle East, staged since 1956 among the Roman temples of the ancient city of Heliopolis. Through July and August the sanctuary fills with music in the evenings: opera and classical orchestras, jazz, Arabic music, dance and theatre performed against the floodlit columns of the Temple of Jupiter and inside the Temple of Bacchus, one of the most complete Roman temples standing anywhere. The setting does much of the work, a UNESCO World Heritage site of colossal stonework that dwarfs the stage built within it, and the programme moves from international headliners to Lebanese folklore evenings. Even outside festival season the temple complex is one of the great archaeological sites of the Roman world and open to visit by day. For a few weeks each summer, though, it becomes a concert hall of a kind that exists nowhere else, and that is the reason to plan a trip around a performance.
Best months
The festival runs on evenings across July and August, with the full programme and exact dates announced each spring, so plan around a specific performance once it is published. Tickets are sold through the festival's box offices and at the entrance to the Acropolis. The temple complex itself is open to visitors year-round in daylight, separate from the festival. Baalbek sits inland at altitude, so summer days are hot and dry and evenings among the ruins are cooler.
Getting there & around
Baalbek is in the northern Bekaa, about 85 kilometres northeast of Beirut and roughly two hours by car over the mountains via Zahle. Most visitors come with a driver or on an organised day trip, timed to a festival evening or to see the temples by day. As with any trip into the Bekaa, check current local conditions and travel guidance when planning. Buy festival tickets ahead through the official box offices, and allow time at the site itself, which is large and takes a couple of hours to walk.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (1)
Baalbeck International Festival
OrganizerThe Baalbeck International Festival, first held in 1956, is the oldest and most prestigious cultural festival in the Middle East. Each July and August it stages opera, classical concerts, jazz, dance, theatre and Arabic music among the Roman temples of Baalbek, using the Temple of Bacchus and the columns of the Temple of Jupiter as its setting. Over its history it has hosted leading international artists alongside Lebanese performers, and it publishes its programme each spring.