The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will formally begin the festival, and before the National Opera House's first big show, there will be customary fireworks display on the quays.

One of the three mainstage operas this year, Zoraida di Granata by Gaetano Donizetti, will be presented on opening night.

The festival's subject this year is Women and War, and Rosetta Cucchi, the artistic director, has selected a programming that emphasises the difficulties women confront in navigating war, combating discrimination, and raising their voices.

The other two mainstage operas are a new orchestration of La Ciociara by the original composer Marco Tutino and L'Aube Rouge by Camille Erlanger from 1911, which, like Zoraida di Granata, will carry on Wexford's history of presenting long-neglected but vital works.

Two pocket operas, the Wexford Factory opera, which features up-and-coming musicians and singers, eleven lunchtime concerts, and a choral performance featuring New Dublin Voices are all scheduled for the almost two-week period.

Additionally, there will be public discussions, film screenings, and interviews at a number of locations across Wexford.

This year's schedule will feature a new feature called Community Opera, wherein local singers will participate in their first-ever full-length operatic performance.

This iteration of Gianni Schicci by Giacomo Puccini is set in Wexford, and the participants—who have been rehearsing in a series of workshops in recent months—are joined by professional singers for the performance.

The satirical piece, which features one of the most beloved opera arias, O Mio Babbino Caro, will be performed for the first time this evening at Stonebridge's Grain Store, which is located just off the quay front in Wexford.

The audience will “move with the action” throughout the room as Gianni Schicci is presented as an immersive performance, according to the organisers.

The Wexford Festival Opera runs through November 5th.