Four operas, roughly fifteen hours of music, one story that begins with gold stolen from a river and ends with the gods’ hall in flames. From November 6 to 22, 2026, the Paris Opera stages Wagner’s complete Der Ring des Nibelungen at Opéra Bastille. Alongside it, an exhibition runs at Palais Garnier, the company’s older house across town.
This is the long-haul end of opera-going. Most people treat a Ring as a commitment that shapes their whole trip.
The four evenings
The cycle is four separate works, performed in order across the festival period:
- Das Rheingold: the prologue, about two and a half hours played straight through with no interval.
- Die Walküre: the most often performed on its own, with the Ride of the Valkyries opening Act III.
- Siegfried: the hero’s coming of age, with the forging scene in Act I.
- Götterdämmerung: the longest of the four, running well past five hours once the intervals are counted.
The Paris Opera publishes the exact dates of each performance, the casting and the start times on operadeparis.fr. Long Wagner evenings at Bastille often begin earlier than the house’s usual curtain, so the posted time for each opera matters.
Inside Opéra Bastille
The building fills one side of Place de la Bastille. It is a curved, glass-and-stone block designed by Carlos Ott and inaugurated in 1989 for the bicentenary of the Revolution. That revolution started a few metres away, where the July Column now stands.
Inside, the main auditorium seats around 2,700. It is steeply raked, with grey granite, pale wood and black upholstery, and was built for large-scale staging. Sightlines are even across most of the hall, which counts for a lot over four nights.
Surtitles are projected above the stage, and the Paris Opera usually shows them in French and English. That helps first-timers follow a plot full of gods, dwarves, giants and a cursed ring.
The exhibition at Palais Garnier
Palais Garnier sits in the 9th arrondissement at the top of Avenue de l’Opéra. Charles Garnier’s house opened in 1875 and is all gilt, marble and onyx. The grand staircase, the Grand Foyer and Marc Chagall’s 1964 auditorium ceiling are what most visitors come to see.
The exhibition is held here, separate from the performances at Bastille. Many Ring-goers pair it with a daytime visit to the building on a rest day between operas. The Paris Opera’s site lists the visiting arrangements and access to the exhibition.
Getting between the two houses
The two venues are about three kilometres apart and easy to link by Métro.
- Opéra Bastille: Bastille station, Lines 1, 5 and 8. The exits come up on the square, beside the building.
- Palais Garnier: Opéra station, Lines 3, 7 and 8. You come out facing the façade.
- Between them: Line 8 runs directly from Bastille to Opéra, no change needed.
Visitors on a Ring trip often stay in the Marais or around Bastille itself. After a late finish, the walk home is short and the cafés on Rue de la Roquette and Rue de Lappe are still open.
Surviving a Wagner night at the Bastille
A Ring audience has its own habits. Regulars treat each evening as a long stretch with a few short breaks, not a night out with a show attached.
- Latecomers: Paris Opera ushers generally hold late arrivals until a break. Das Rheingold has no interval, so missing the start can mean missing the whole opera.
- Intervals: the foyer bars get busy right away. Many regulars pre-order drinks or a light plate at the bar before the performance so it is ready at the break.
- Paying: cards are accepted at the bars and the cloakroom as standard. In France service is included, so nobody expects a tip.
- Dress: there is no dress code. You will see suits and sneakers in the same row. Layers help, because the hall’s temperature changes over five hours.
- Coughing and phones: Wagner’s quiet passages are very quiet. Audiences here stay silent during the music and save applause for the ends of acts.
- Leaving between operas: tickets are for each performance. Your seat on Wednesday has nothing to do with your seat on Saturday.
For orientation in French, the cycle is La Tétralogie or L’Anneau du Nibelung. You will see both names on posters around the house.
Making a week of it
The festival runs for more than two weeks, so most Ring visitors space out the four operas and fill the days between. Near Bastille, the covered Marché d’Aligre and the elevated Coulée Verte René-Dumont walkway are both within walking distance.
Near Garnier, the Galeries Lafayette rooftop looks back over the opera house’s green copper dome. On the off days, a walk along the Seine makes a good change of pace from a night spent following leitmotifs.
Frequently asked questions
When and where is Wagner's Ring Festival at the Paris Opera?
It runs from November 6 to 22, 2026. The four Ring operas are staged at Opéra Bastille on Place de la Bastille, and a companion exhibition is held at Palais Garnier.
Where are tickets and the performance schedule published?
The Paris Opera publishes performance dates, casting, start times and ticket sales on its official site, operadeparis.fr.
How long are the Ring operas?
The whole cycle runs about fifteen hours of music over four evenings. Das Rheingold is roughly two and a half hours with no interval, and Götterdämmerung runs past five hours with intervals.
How do I get to Opéra Bastille and Palais Garnier?
Opéra Bastille is above Bastille Métro station (Lines 1, 5, 8). Palais Garnier is at Opéra station (Lines 3, 7, 8). Line 8 connects the two directly.
Is there a dress code, and are there English surtitles?
There is no dress code, and smart-casual is common. The Paris Opera usually projects surtitles in both French and English above the stage.
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