Five summer festivals in Lebanon: season, venues and tickets

Lebanon holds its summer festivals right inside Roman temples and mountain palaces. The season opens in June and runs through September. The tricky part is different: the lineup changes every year, old guidebooks have long-outdated dates, so you book your hotel and tickets almost blind and risk showing up in an empty city. We picked five festivals worth keeping on your calendar and gathered the venue, season, and how to buy tickets for each. You're better off planning your trip in spring, when organizers publish their programs.

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What to choose: Lebanon's summer festivals

💡 In short:

• Festival summer in Lebanon runs from June through September: music, film, and wine.
• The biggest stages are in Baalbek and at the Beiteddine Palace, and you buy tickets for them online.
• Dates and tickets: 09/2026, verified on the official Baalbeck website and the Beiteddine Art Festival website.

Our picks by season:

Season dates shift every year, so check the lineup on the festival's official website before you travel.

1. Baalbeck International Festival

The columns of the Temple of Bacchus have served as a concert stage since 1956 (as of 09/2026, official Baalbeck website). It's the oldest cultural festival in the region, and evenings here start exactly at 8:00 PM (as of 09/2026, 2025 program on the Baalbeck website).

You'll get opera, ballet, and concerts by Arab performers in a single season, so no two evenings are alike. The season runs from July through August, and exact dates are announced in spring.

• Tickets: seats by section, from $50 to $180 per evening (as of 09/2026, 2025 lineup).
• Getting there: about 85 km from Beirut, and by car you'll spend roughly 1.5 hours (per the map).
• Who it's for: if you want to hear music inside ancient columns.
• The catch: the program is published in spring, so you book your hotel and tickets late.

2. Beiteddine Art Festival

© Peripitus · CC BY-SAPhoto: Peripitus, CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0), Wikimedia Commons

The festival has been running since 1985 and takes place at the Beiteddine Palace in the Chouf Mountains (as of 09/2026, official website). By audience size, it's one of the leading festivals in the Middle East, and concerts here are held in the palace, which itself is more than two hundred years old.

The 2025 season ran for two and a half weeks in July: from the 10th to the 27th (as of 09/2026, Lebanon Traveler). The program is built around orchestral music, jazz, and dance evenings (as of 09/2026, Beiteddine Art Festival website).

• Tickets: book on the festival website, seats are sold by category (as of 09/2026, Booking Info).
• Getting there: about 45 km from Beirut, roughly an hour by car (per the map).
• Who it's for: if the orchestral program and the historic setting matter to you.
• The catch: the season fits into the July weeks, so you'll have to plan your vacation around the lineup.

3. Batroun International Festival

© Clément Bucco-Lechat · CC BY-SAPhoto: Clément Bucco-Lechat, CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), Wikimedia Commons

The festival takes place in coastal Batroun and brings together local and international musicians (as of 09/2026, official website). Concerts are held in the evenings, and the season stretches across July and August.

In 2025, Saint Levant played at the venue (as of 09/2026, festival schedule), and announcements like that come out one at a time throughout the summer.

• Tickets: sold on the official website, you buy each concert separately (as of 09/2026, Batroun International Festival website).
• Getting there: about 50 km from Beirut along the coastal highway (per the map).
• Who it's for: if you'd rather pick concerts one by one than go for a full festival weekend.
• The catch: there's no season pass, each evening is purchased separately.

4. Byblos en Blanc et Rosé

The wine festival is held in the port of Byblos, and in 2026 it ran from July 9 to 11 (as of 09/2026, organizer's announcement). Wineries from across Lebanon bring white and rosé wines, and tastings are accompanied by live music.

• Tickets: admission is paid, in 2026 a ticket cost about $15 per person (as of 09/2026, organizer's Instagram).
• Getting there: about 40 km from Beirut, roughly 40 minutes by car (per the map).
• Who it's for: if you want to combine wine, the sea, and music in one evening.
• The catch: the festival runs for only three days, so book hotels in Byblos for those dates well in advance.

5. Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour

© Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BYPhoto: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), Wikimedia Commons

The Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour brings films about mountains, rock climbing, and travel to Lebanon (as of 09/2026, Banff Centre). Screenings in Lebanon take place in June, and some sessions are held right in the mountains.

You can bring camping gear and stay overnight under the open sky.

• Tickets: sold in advance, limited availability.
• Who it's for: if you enjoy mountain films and sleeping in a tent.
• The catch: screenings only happen in June, so you'll have to plan your trip around those dates.

⁉️🤔 Frequently asked questions

When does festival summer start in Lebanon?

Banff screenings kick off in June, and from July Baalbek, Beiteddine, Batroun, and the wine festival in Byblos join in. Exact dates change every year, so check the lineup on the festivals' official websites.

Do I need to buy tickets in advance?

Yes, for the big stages. Baalbek publishes its program in the spring and sells seats by section, Beiteddine opens booking on its website, and in Batroun you buy tickets for each concert separately. For the wine festival in Byblos, some tickets are sold at the entrance, but it's better not to count on that.

How do I get to the venues if I don't have a car?

The easiest option is to rent a car or book a taxi for the evening. Baalbek is 85 km from Beirut, Beiteddine 45 km, Batroun 50 km (by map). The wine festival in Byblos is less than an hour away, so it's realistic to fit the evening into a single trip from Beirut.

What should I bring to an open-air concert?

A light jacket: after sunset it gets chilly both in the mountains and on the coast. Bring cash for the entrance and water. Allow extra time, because evenings start late and the drive back takes at least an hour (by map).

How much does it cost to get into a festival?

Prices depend on the venue. In Baalbek, a seat for the evening starts at $50 by section (as of 09/2026, season program). The wine festival in Byblos is noticeably cheaper, and Banff screenings cost the same as a regular movie ticket. Check Beiteddine and Batroun rates on their websites.

In short: what's worth booking

If you're going for the music, put Baalbek and Beiteddine on your list: of the five, these are the biggest summer stages. For sea and wine, head to Byblos, and a resort atmosphere awaits you in Batroun. There's only one outdoorsy option: the Banff screenings in June with an overnight stay in the mountains.

Accommodation in Beirut and Byblos gets booked up around festival weekends, so reserve your hotel first and then match your evening tickets to it. Check out hotels in Lebanon on Trip.com and tours around the country on GetYourGuide.