16 Jul 2026
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The second Baku International Arts Festival (BIAF)—a multi-genre dance, drama and music event—will take place in Baku from October 28 to November 8, 2026. The festival program features over 20 events, including concerts, ballet and theater productions, film screenings, meet-the-artist sessions and masterclasses. BIAF-2026 will bring together artists and ensembles from Azerbaijan, the UK, Israel, Canada, Monaco, Russia, the USA, France, and other countries.
This year, special attention is being paid to collaborations between international artists and artists, ensembles, and educational institutions in Azerbaijan—including the Academy of Choreography, the Opera and Ballet Theatre, the Music Academy, the University of Arts, and the Azerbaijan Symphony and Chamber Orchestras.
BIAF will take place at several iconic venues in Baku: the Muslim Magomayev State Philharmonic Hall, the Azerbaijan National Drama Theatre, the Azerbaijan State Musical Theatre, the Heydar Aliyev Palace, Icherisheher (Baku Old Town), and others.
The BIAF program will feature a new work by renowned, award-winning director and choreographer Akram Khan, “Thikra: Night of Remembering.” The production continues Akram Khan’s signature style—an innovative blend of classical Indian dance (kathak) and contemporary dance, featuring costume and visual design by Saudi visual artist Manal AlDowayan, known for her large-scale multimedia installation at the Saudi national pavilion during the 60th Venice Biennale. The project received its world premiere in the desert landscape of Wadi AlFann, Valley of the Arts, AlUla, in January 2025, and was commissioned by the Royal Commission for AlUla for the AlUla Arts Festival 2025. Thikra, meaning “memory” or “recollection” in Arabic, is deeply rooted in the power of rituals. Imagined as an annual gathering, a tribe of women come together for one night only to awaken the spirits of those who came before them. Through ceremony and shared remembrance, they transcend time, uniting past and present in a profound act of renewal.
This year, the BIAF music program is dedicated to the 120th anniversary of the legendary composer Dmitri Shostakovich, whose life and destiny were inextricably linked to Azerbaijan. A Soviet genius who influenced the development of the national school of composition, Shostakovich frequently visited and performed in Baku.
Among the performers is the renowned violinist and two-time Grammy Award winner Maxim Vengerov. One of today’s most sought-after violinists—who performs on a Stradivarius—he has collaborated with such legendary musicians as Mstislav Rostropovich, Georg Solti, and Yehudi Menuhin, and has frequently appeared with leading orchestras at prestigious venues around the world. Vengerov has received numerous recording awards, including four Gramophone Awards (UK), four Edison Awards, two Echo Klassik Awards, and others.
BIAF audiences will also see a multimedia project by the internationally acclaimed South African artist William Kentridge (born Johannesburg, 1955), a visual interpretation of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10. Kentridge, known for his drawings, films, theatre and opera productions grounded in politics, science, literature and history while always leaving space for contradiction and uncertainty, created the animated film "Oh To Believe in Another World " using collage, puppets and masked actors. In it, he builds a dream-like “abandoned Soviet museum” to accompany the powerful symphony, composed in 1953 — one of the composer’s most personal works. The central characters are Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin, as well as Shostakovich and his student Elmira Nazirova, the poet Mayakovsky and his lover Lily Brik. Through this project, viewers continue to feel the emotional journey of the music independent of its historical context, while simultaneously acknowledging the particular character of the era. The symphony also has a special connection to Baku, as its musical themes reflect Shostakovich’s secret declaration of affection for his student, the Azerbaijani pianist and composer Elmira Nazirova.
The festival will take place with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijan Tourism Board. The full program will be announced on the festival's official website.
In 2025, BIAF presented over 20 unique events featuring more than 100 artists from Azerbaijan, Austria, the UK, Germany, Israel, Spain, Canada, China, the USA, France, Uzbekistan, and other countries. Festival visitors had the opportunity to experience legendary works by such masters of the stage as Robert Lepage, Guillaume Côté, Sharon Eyal, Yang Liping, Rimas Tuminas, and Daniele Finzi Pasca.
Inspired by the world’s finest festival projects, BIAF is establishing a modern, international, and multi-genre cultural platform. Baku is a dynamic, open, and tolerant city—a modern global capital bridging East and West. Once a key stop on the famous Silk Road and a magnet for diverse peoples and faiths, the city today continues to unite cultures while setting high standards of excellence. The opportunity to witness the best stage performances of recent years at the Baku International Arts Festival offers a wonderful reason to visit Azerbaijan and discover its rich history and diverse cultural traditions.
The detailed BIAF-2026 program and event tickets will be available on the festival's official website: https://www.biaf.az/
