Calendar / Baalbeck International Festival
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Music & Culture Festivals in Baalbek
Baalbeck International Festival
Jul 8 – Aug 18, 2026ExpectedBaalbeck International Festival 2026
Run by Baalbeck International Festival, with published dates and a real program.
Dates & details verified against: Official event site ↗
Why go
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.
When it runs
Held on evenings across July and August each year among the Roman temples of Baalbek. The full programme and exact dates are announced each spring.
- Jul 8 – Aug 18, 2026ExpectedBaalbeck International Festival 2026
Dates read confirmed where the organizer has published them, and expected where we've projected the recurrence. Always verify with the organizer before booking.
What to expect
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.
Where it happens
Baalbek, Lebanon.
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