Festival International de Symphonie d'El Jem: an evening concert at the Roman amphitheatre

The 39th International Festival of Symphonic Music of El Jem brings one of North Africa's most distinctive classical music events back to the Amphitheatre El Jem on Saturday 25 July 2026, with an evening concert beginning at 22:00.

The programme for the 25 July concert is confirmed: the Orchestre l'Orphéon, conducted by Clément Rousseau, will perform Ravel's Boléro and Rimsky-Korsakov's Shéhérazade. This is the orchestra's second appearance at the 2026 edition; their first, on 24 July, is dedicated to songs of exile with a tribute to Lebanese composer Marcel Khalifé.

The festival's 2026 season runs from 11 July to 22 August and features musicians from five countries: Tunisia, Austria, France, Italy and Spain. Other highlights include Dorsaf Hamdani with the Sousse Symphony Orchestra on 15 July and the Camerata de Barcelona performing Colores de España on 18 July.

Tickets are 37.5 TND and are available online via teskerti.tn. Return coach transfers from outside the Ministry of Tourism in Tunis depart at 17:00 on concert evenings (30 TND return; booking on +216 55 179 558, with departures confirmed once 60 percent capacity is reached). Tickets are also sold at the Tunis Gare de Barcelone tabac, the ONTT office in Sousse and the Syndicat d'initiative in Mahdia.

The Amphitheatre El Jem — Roman Thysdrus — is a UNESCO World Heritage Site built in the third century AD. Set in El Jem, Mahdia Governorate, roughly an hour from Sousse and under three hours from Tunis by road or rail, it provides an open-air stage of exceptional acoustics and scale. Tickets for popular performances sell quickly; booking ahead is advisable.