Chinese Opera Gala (Kunshan) 2026 to kick off on Sept. 23

The 2026 Chinese Opera Gala (Kunshan) will kick off in Kunshan on September 23 and run through November, with events rolled out across prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu Province. The gala comprises 21 sub‑events and 27 performances, featuring 57 opera excerpts and 10 full-length plays. A total of 61 troupes will give performances covering 46 opera genres, among which 14 are on the brink of extinction.

To boost cultural tourism consumption, this year’s gala will launch the “Enjoying Operas, Exploring Jiangsu” cultural tour. Partnering with over 200 hotels and more than 80 scenic spots, it will roll out 50 inter-city tourist routes and distribute special subsidies worth over 5 million yuan online. Suzhou will also introduce a “Kunshan Opera Gala Benefit Package”, issuing accommodation vouchers totaling 30 million yuan.

Traditional Chinese operas are also reaching new audiences with new technologies and communication modes. This year’s gala will leverage platforms such as Douyin, Xiaohongshu and Weibo to innovate with opera-themed activities like short videos of costume transformations and public sing-along challenges, and will hold an AI-powered short-video contest. These efforts aim to attract widespread attention and participation, especially from younger audiences.

Traditional opera is a treasure of Chinese culture. Since 2018, the Chinese Opera Gala (Kunshan) has been successfully held for seven editions. It has presented a total of 713 opera productions across 334 shows, involving 21,400 performers and crew members and attracting over 214,000 on-site attendees and more than 355 million online views.