UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — New Yorkers can enter a lottery for free tickets to the Metropolitan Opera under a new city initiative that will give away 70,000 seats during the 2026–27 season.
The Met will release 10,000 tickets each month through "Opera for All," a partnership announced Thursday by Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the opera company. Winners could see productions including Macbeth, Lincoln in the Bardo and La Bohème.
The program is aimed at bringing new audiences to the Met at Lincoln Center. According to the city, any New Yorker who has not purchased a Met Opera ticket since 2019 can enter — including people who have attended a performance before. Tickets will be available in every section except standing room.
"Art should not be reserved for those who can afford it," Mamdani said in a statement. "Every New Yorker should have the opportunity to sit in these seats, hear these voices and experience this stage, no matter what's in their bank account."
New Yorkers can enter the monthly lottery here.
The city said it will also work with public schools, libraries, NYCHA, CUNY and other agencies to help distribute tickets.
For questions, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.
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