The Palacio Valdés Theatre is Avilés's principal performance venue, a late-nineteenth-century building named after the novelist Armando Palacio Valdés, who was born in the city in 1853. The theatre was inaugurated in 1899 and seats just under 700 people; its neoclassical facade is one of the more elegant buildings on the edge of the old town.
The theatre stages opera, dance, and drama, and its programme is consistently good. Check listings on arrival in Avilés — performances here are often sold out, as the theatre draws audiences from across Asturias. The annual Avilés International Celtic Festival (Festival Internacional de la Celtica), held in August, uses the theatre as one of its main venues alongside street events throughout the old town.