Analysis October 2026: Orchestral concerts in record summer heat

The heatwaves that hit Europe this summer led to some high-profile orchestral concerts being cancelled, while other events went ahead with a range of mitigations. In Paris, the Orchestre de Paris’s free concert under the glass pyramid of the Louvre, scheduled for 10pm on 20 June, was called off the day before. A week later in Berlin, despite temperatures forecast to be as high as 41C, more than 21,000 people attended the Berlin Philharmonic’s season-closing concert at the Waldbühne on 27 June. With the canopy-covered stage in the shade by the start time of 8.15pm, the orchestra nevertheless performed in a relaxed dress code. Attendees were advised to allow more time for their journeys to the venue, free drinking water was available, and additional first-aid staff were on duty…