Wexford Festival Opera

The festival was founded in 1951 by a local doctor, Tom Walsh, and a group of enthusiasts, and it made a deliberate choice that has defined it since: rather than compete on the standard repertoire, it stages operas nobody else performs - forgotten works by known composers, and works by composers who have dropped out of the canon entirely. Several have been revived internationally after being heard here first. That has given a town of about twenty thousand people a genuine international reputation among opera specialists, and critics from major papers attend annually. The National Opera House, opened in 2008 behind the preserved facades of High Street, seats around seven hundred and is technically well regarded. Around the main programme runs a large fringe of recitals, lunchtime concerts and street events. Accommodation in Wexford during the festival is scarce and much of it books a year ahead.

What you actually see

• The rare repertoire - operas almost never staged anywhere else.
• The opera house - a modern 700-seat theatre behind preserved street facades.
• The fringe - recitals, lunchtime concerts and free events across the town.
• The scale mismatch - an international festival in a town of twenty thousand.

When to go

Late October into early November, over about two weeks. Book performances and accommodation far ahead - much of both goes a year in advance.

Honest expectations

The whole point is unfamiliar work, so nobody arrives knowing the operas. Tickets and beds both sell out very early. Wexford in late autumn is wet and dark. Prices rise for the duration.

Nearby

Wexford town and the harbour are around the opera house; Curracloe and the wildfowl reserve are north.