Baku International Arts Festival will gather world stars of the arts in the capital of Azerbaijan
The second multi-genre festival Baku International Arts Festival (BIAF) will take place in Baku from October 28 to November 8, 2026.
The festival program, held with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan, will include theater, dance, and music events. In total, more than 20 events of various genres are planned, including concerts, ballet and theater productions, film screenings, meetings with artists, and master classes. The grand celebration of the arts will bring together artists and creative groups from Azerbaijan, the United Kingdom, Israel, Canada, Monaco, Russia, the United States, France, and other countries. The detailed festival program will be available on the official website www.biaf.az.
This year, special attention will be given to collaborations between foreign artists and artists, ensembles, and educational institutions of Azerbaijan, including the Academy of Choreography, the Opera and Ballet Theater, the Music Academy, the University of Arts, and the Azerbaijan Symphony and Chamber Orchestras.
BIAF will be held at several iconic venues in Baku: the State Philharmonic named after Muslim Magomayev, the Azerbaijan National Drama Theater, the Azerbaijan State Musical Theater, the Heydar Aliyev Palace, the historic Icherisheher district, and others.
The festival program will include a new production of “Thikra: Night of Remembering” by the renowned director and choreographer Akram Khan, who has received numerous prestigious awards. This performance continues to develop Khan’s signature style — an innovative combination of contemporary and classical Indian dance (kathak). Saudi artist Manal Al-Dowayan, known for her large-scale multimedia installation in the Saudi national pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale, worked on the visual design of the production. The world premiere of the performance took place in January 2025 among the desert landscapes of Wadi al-Fann (“Valley of the Arts”) in the AlUla region; the production was commissioned by the Royal Commission for AlUla specifically for the AlUla Arts Festival 2025. The title “Thikra” translates from Arabic as “memory” or “remembrance” and reflects a deep connection to the power of rituals. According to the authors’ vision, it is an annual event in which women gather together for just one night to awaken the spirits of their predecessors. Through ceremony and shared memories, they transcend the boundaries of time, uniting past and present in a profound act of renewal.
The musical program of BIAF this year is dedicated to the 120th anniversary of the legendary composer Dmitry Shostakovich, whose life and fate were inextricably linked with Azerbaijan. The Soviet genius, who influenced the formation of the national school of composition, visited and performed in Baku multiple times.
Among the performers is the renowned violinist and two-time Grammy Award winner Maxim Vengerov. One of the most sought-after violinists of our time, he has collaborated with great musicians of past years — Rostropovich, Abbado, Muti, Chailly, Barenboim, Solti, Menuhin, and many others — and has repeatedly performed with the world’s leading orchestras on prestigious stages. Vengerov has received numerous awards in the field of recording, including two Gramophone Awards UK, five Edison Awards, two Echo Klassik Awards, a Classical Brit Award, and many others.
Audiences at BIAF will also see a multimedia project by the world-famous South African artist William Kentridge — a visual interpretation of Shostakovich’s 10th Symphony. In creating the animated film “Oh To Believe in Another World,” Kentridge employed puppets and actors in masks, as well as collage techniques. In this work, he constructs a surreal image of an abandoned Soviet museum, accompanied by the sound of the powerful symphony written in 1953 and considered one of the composer’s most deeply personal works. The 10th Symphony also has a direct connection to Baku — the musical theme of the work reflects the author’s secret declaration to his student, Azerbaijani pianist and composer Elmira Nazirova. The monumental work will be performed by the BIAF Festival Orchestra — an ensemble of outstanding musicians under the direction of the world-renowned violinist and conductor Dmitry Sitkovetsky, whose musical dynasty is closely connected with the capital of Azerbaijan.
In 2025, BIAF presented more than 20 unique events with the participation of over 100 artists from Azerbaijan, Austria, the United Kingdom, Germany, Israel, Spain, Canada, China, the United States, France, Uzbekistan, and other countries. Festival guests had the opportunity to become acquainted with the legendary works of such masters of the stage as Robert Lepage, Guillaume Côté, Sharon Eyal, Jan Lauwers, Rimas Tuminas, and Daniele Finzi Pasca.
Inspired by the best world festival projects, BIAF is forming a contemporary, international, multi-genre cultural platform. Baku — a dynamic, open, and tolerant city — serves as the venue for this global project and acts as a link between East and West; it is a modern world capital. Once an important point on the famous Silk Road and a historic center of attraction for representatives of various peoples and faiths, the city today continues to unite cultures while setting high standards of quality. The opportunity to see the best stage productions of recent years at the Baku International Arts Festival is an excellent reason to visit Azerbaijan and become acquainted with its rich history and diverse cultural traditions.
The detailed BIAF-2026 program and tickets for events will be available on the official festival website: http://biaf.az/
