It was the opera by Conradin Kreutzer completely forgotten today – “The Night Camp in Granada”. The fine acoustics, unusual, beautiful surroundings and the really romantic aura of the amphitheatre brought the music lovers to the Forest Opera and the crowd was captivated by the Germanic style. More and more of Wagner’s performances were staged and the place was referred to as “Wagner’s Theatre”. From the beginning of the twenties in Sopot there were annual festivals of Wagner’s art. Music lovers coming from various distant places gathered there. Those who could not find seats in the audience rented fishing boats and went several hundred metres out to sea, where, thanks to the specific form of the arena, music could be heard almost as well as in the amphitheatre.

After WWII the famous Forest Opera and its staging values were forgotten. During the first post-war quarter century it was only used occasionally. The breakthrough occurred in the sixties, with the general reconstruction of the amphitheatre and with the organising of song festivals there. The place again became a festival stage and Sopot again became the musical capital for several days. The audience of the amphitheatre was filled to the last seat and those who could not get a ticket did not rent fishing boats any more but watched the event on TV.

The largest growth in the festival event took place at the end of the eighties, hosting stars such as Boney M, Charles Aznavour and Demis Roussos.

Today’s Sopot Festival has a tradition of almost half a century and still attracts the stars and their fans. It remains the most important highlight on the list of summer-season attractions at the Baltic Sea