Music, cabaret, theater: In Vienna, culture fans enjoy very Viennese entertainment in the open air on warm summer evenings. Here are a few tips on what the lively Viennese cultural scene has to offer during the summer months, ranging from major film festivals and open-air operas to small, exclusive events such as the Summer Rhapsody.
Music Film Festival at City Hall Square
The classic among the Viennese summer festivals for over 30 years: For 65 days, City Hall Square is once again a pulsating open-air meeting point. The Music Film Festival presents musical highlights of opera, classical, pop, and rock as well as culinary delights every evening from June 29 to September 1. That's summer in Vienna. Admission is free!
Kultursommer Wien
Around 2,000 artists will take to the stage at the free open-air Kultursommer Wien festival at various locations ranging from the city center to the outskirts. From July 4 to August 11, the program will include events and concerts ranging from rock, pop, classical music, jazz, Viennese songs, dance, theater, performance and literature to contemporary circus, puppet and object theater, cabaret and choral and brass band music.
As happens every year, the Wiener Symphoniker’s Prater Picnic on June 27 and 28 at 7.30 p.m. marks a spectacular start to the exciting series of events – an open-air event for the whole family on the Kaiserwiese in front of the Giant Ferris Wheel. Guests can enjoy food and drinks on picnic blankets while listening to the Wiener Symphoniker perform under the baton of Dirk Kaftan, accompanied by soprano Annette Dasch, tenor Georg Nigl and pop singer and songwriter Julian le Play.
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Theater in the Park
The Theater im Park am Belvedere starts in early summer, on May 24, with a “divine” comedy written by and starring cabaret artist Michael Niavarani. It is the prelude to a brilliant and diverse series of theater performances, cabaret, musicals, concerts, readings, philosophical discussions and a children’s program that runs until 19 September. The ticket includes free admission to the museum in the Upper Belvedere on the day of the event or the following day.
Locally known and internationally recognized artists will be taking part, including Konstantin Wecker, the Vienna Boys’ Choir, Michael Mittermeier, Eckart von Hirschhausen, Ernst Molden, Der Nino aus Wien, Conchita Wurst and the Science Busters. Authors Michael Köhlmeier and Stefanie Sargnagel, philosopher Konrad Paul Liessmann, newsreader Armin Wolf, political scientist Peter Filzmaier and feminism campaigner Alice Schwarzer will be providing topics for discussion.
1. Viennese Opera Summer at the Belvedere: Don Giovanni
Vienna will have a new cultural summer highlight in 2024: while the major theaters take a break, Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” will be performed in the open air in the gardens of the Belvedere on ten evenings in July, with the Upper Belvedere providing a majestic backdrop. Thomas Tatzl is brilliant in the title role, who will perform with various talented emerging stars from the local opera scene at his side. Interestingly, the songs will be sung in the original Italian, with entertaining dialogs (subtitled in various languages via the app) replacing the original Italian recitatives. This will make the dangerous game of retribution and seduction played by the womanizer Don Giovanni even more exciting. 7.1. – 7.20.2024)
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Summer Rhapsodie in the Garden
In front of the backdrop of Liechtenstein Garden Palace, the Summer Rhapsodie offers art and dining under a open sky. The program from July 8 to August 7 is as extensive as it is high-quality, with classics from literature, cabaret, and theater as well as concerts from classical to world.
Simone Kopmajer and Wolfgang Puschnig celebrate an evening “With Love” together with the radio.string.quartet.; Birgit Minichmayr reads to music by Dowland, Purcell and the Beatles; the puppeteer Nikolaus Habjan performs as an artistic piper; the pianist Stefan Vladar presents masterpieces from the Romantic period and Lukas Perman brings musical magic to the stage with Missy May.
Africa Days Vienna
African music, art, culture and culinary delights are on the agenda in all their glorious diversity from August 9 to 26. The Africa Days Vienna festival on the Danube Island presents a close-up portrait of the continent, accompanied by 30 open-air concerts. The line-up includes Senegalese pop singer Youssou N’Dour and Mamadou Diabate with his “Percussion Mania”.
Cemetery sessions & Popfest
Wolfgang Ambros, a veteran Viennese singer-songwriter, once dedicated a 100th anniversary serenade to Europe’s second largest cemetery with the song “Es lebe der Zentralfriedhof...”. This year, the “Zenträu”, as it is known by the local Viennese, is 150 years old. This is reason enough for singer-songwriters Lisa Schmid, Ernst Molden, Felix Kramer and Nino aus Wien to celebrate this magical yet morbid area with three open-air sessions (July 4, August 2, September 6). There will also be a varied cultural program set among the graves and tombs throughout the summer.
Popfest Wien is a regular summer highlight for anyone who loves contemporary music. This year, the festival will be held for the 15th time (July 25-28) with free admission and 50 acts on and around Karlsplatz.
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Indoor: theater and dance
The enchanting characters of the Marionette Theater at Schönbrunn Palace once again invite audiences to two versions of Mozart’s Magic Flute this summer – one of them aimed specifically at children. A new addition to the repertoire is the “Danube Waltz”, a play that culminates in the world-famous waltz danced by the legendary Donauweibchen in the Marionette Theater.
The Theater am Spittelberg – a former Viennese 'Pawlatschentheater', or courtyard gallery theater – is now a modern, renovated, yet charming indoor location situated in the heart of the smart Spittelberg district (formerly a crazy red-light district) near the MuseumsQuartier. The summer program is extremely colorful: world music, Viennese music, a capella, variety theater and comedy, theater, and children's performances. The best thing is to have a browse.
And then there's also the annual highlight for many dance enthusiasts: ImPulsTanz – Europe's biggest dance festival – once again gathers the international dance and performance scene in Vienna from July 11 to August 11. Contemporary greats of the dance world such as Dada Masilo, William Kentridge, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Wim Vandekeybus can be seen on stage. With over 250 courses, the workshop program invites beginners and professionals of all ages to ballet, jazz, voguing, modern dance, hip hop and much more. The free outdoor dance classes – “Public Moves” – actually get underway before the official start of the festival.
There is even more on in Vienna – updated daily in the EVENT DATABASE.
