Choregies d'Orange

Choregies d'Orange, founded in 1869 and among the oldest continuously running festivals in France, stages opera inside the Roman Theatre of Orange, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed first-century amphitheatre with a massive intact stage wall shaping its renowned acoustics. Originally a broader Roman Festival that also included theatre, the event shifted to a purely operatic program in 1969, with theatrical works moving instead to the Festival d'Avignon.

Choregies d'Orange, founded in 1869, holds a strong claim to being the oldest continuously running festival in France, staged inside the Roman Theatre of Orange, a first-century Roman amphitheatre built for the Roman colony of Arausio and inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1981 for its exceptional preservation, including the massive stone stage wall that still stands largely intact behind performers today.