Katharina Wagner will lead the Bayreuth Festival for 5 more years

BERLIN (AP) — The Bayreuth Festival in Germany has announced it is retaining Katharina Wagner as its director for another five years. Wagner, who turns 46 on May 21 and is a great-granddaughter of Richard Wagner, became co-head of the festival in September 2008, along with her half-sister Eva Wagner-Pasquier. Katharina then took over as sole head in 2015. The festival announced an agreement with government officials in which a manager will be hired to run business operations, leaving the festival director to make artistic decisions within the budget set by the shareholders.