The 11th edition of the Lednice-Valtice Music Festival (19 September – 17 October 2026) will unfold in the spirit of French elegance and European cultural diplomacy of the 18th and 19th centuries. Audiences will be offered a journey from the radiant Baroque to the music of modernity.
The main inspiration for this year’s edition is the Golden Carriage of Prince Joseph Wenzel of Liechtenstein — a symbol of refined taste and noble representation. In 1738, this diplomat arrived at the court of Louis XV in a magnificent and highly symbolic display that became an unforgettable gesture of cultural diplomacy. In parallel with this historical event, the festival programme becomes a map of cultural — and above all musical — experiences.
In September and October 2026, LVHF will present, alongside its customary series of top-class concerts, lectures, and music-and-art projects for children, several new programme highlights — a film club, a dance performance, and a ballet workshop.
In 2026, the Lednice-Valtice Music Festival once again crosses borders — twice. On 19 September, the festival Prologue will take place in Vienna at the Liechtenstein Garden Palace. A second Austrian stop will follow on 7 October at Kirchstetten Castle.
Partners and patrons of LVHF — without whom the festival would have had to travel a much longer road to become what it is today — may also join an exclusive musical opportunity in France. The festival is preparing this event in cooperation with Château Versailles Spectacles. Participants will have the unique opportunity to experience the Royal Opera within the Palace of Versailles itself — the very place where European musical history was written.
The festival’s culmination leads to the magnificent concert space of the Riding Hall at Valtice Castle. On 17 October 2026, the edition will symbolically come to a close here, a year that, thanks to its eleven year tradition, already bears two beautiful ones even before it begins.
Caption:
In December 1738, the Imperial envoy Joseph Wenzel of Liechtenstein ceremonially arrived at the court of Louis XV in his Golden Carriage. His entrance in six magnificent carriages, drawn by teams from the Lednice stud farms and accompanied by elaborate courtly splendour, was not merely an ostentatious ceremony — refined taste became an instrument of diplomatic ingenuity.
The Golden Carriage:
François Boucher (1703–1770), Nicolas Pineau (1684–1754)
The Golden Carriage of Prince Joseph Wenzel I of Liechtenstein, 1738
LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna