The main highlight of the cultural calendar in Dubrovnik is the 45-day Summer Festival, which sweeps through the city from mid July to late August. Most major buildings in the old town, including the Sponza Palace, Svetog Dominika 1 (tel: (020) 321 032) and the Rector's Palace, Pred Dvorom 3 (tel: (020) 321 437), become festival venues with theatre, dance, classical music and visual arts all well represented. The highlight is the traditional performance of Shakespeare at the Lovrijenac Fortress.

Things are quieter for the rest of the year, but there are regular concerts and cultural performances at the Rector's Palace, the Church of our Saviour, Stradun bb, and the Marin Držič Theatre, Pred Dvorom 1 (tel: (020) 321 419; website: www.kazaliste-dubrovnik.hr). The Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra (website: www.dso.hr) has a good reputation and performs regularly at various venues.

Information and tickets, if not available at the venue, can usually be obtained from the tourist office. There is also a cinema within the old city walls just by the Sponza Palace, with Hollywood films usually being subtitled rather than dubbed (no telephone number is available and there is no booking ahead). The Dubrovnik International Film Festival (website: www.dubrovnikfilmfestival.com) brings eclectic world cinema to various venues in May each year.