The largest (free) open-air music festival in Europe takes place on an island in Vienna, a city not exactly famous for its ocean vistas.
Ah, but Vienna does have the mighty Danube river, whose long artificial Donauinsel island hosts the Donauinselfest – a weekend of music, fun and bleary-eyed Monday mornings.
- Annual music festival with mainly local performers and the occasional international star
- Takes a different format in 2020 (see below)
- Typically attracts well over 2.5 million visitors
- Loads of other festival activities
- 2020 dates: Jul 1 – Sept 20, entry is free
- See also: Events in Vienna | Where is the Danube?
The music festival
(Photo by Andreas Jakwerth | Click photo for copyright info etc.)
Technically, the 21 km long and 250 m wide Donauinsel (Danube island) is a flood regulation measure, a description which has all the sex appeal of a broken exhaust pipe.
However, this artificial island also serves as a long recreational park, where you can hike, swim, cycle, trampoline, climb, eat, drink and generally be merry. For one weekend every June, a chunk of it turns into a huge open-air music festival: the Donauinselfest (Danube Island festival)
And entry is free.
(Photo by Andreas Jakwerth | Click photo for copyright info etc.)
The music typically covers various genres, including rock, pop, rap, hip hop, electronic music, swing (yep), folk, metal, and all things in between.
Plus there are all sorts of other activities to fill each day with, not to mention a host of stands waiting to keep you fed and watered (not free).
The Donauinselfest normally features around 13 stages, 600 hours of music, and 17 themed activity areas. It pulled in some 2.7 million visitors across all three days last time out. Curiously, a political party organises everything: the SPÖ has more or less formed the city government for decades.
Although most performers are from Austria, the roll call of international stars from past events includes Mando Diao, Lisa Stansfield, Amy Mcdonald, Michael Bolton, Sean Paul, Bob Geldof, as well as a who’s who of the wider German-speaking music worlds.
Get a feeling for a typical festival from this video:
The 2020 Donauinselfest
Everything is slightly very different in 2020, though.
Instead of a mammoth 3-day event at one location, the festival takes place across 80 days all over Vienna. Beginning on July 1st, 2020, a double-decker bus with a built-in open-air stage will tour the city to give a total of 240 short concerts in parks, tram depots and other locations. This also means no international acts this year.
The festival ends with three “big” shows on the Danube Island across September 19th and 20th, but with a limited audience. Tickets for the final performances will be distributed across the summer.
2020 dates and tickets
You don’t need to buy a ticket to the standard annual event because entrance is free. Which also means an awful lot of people attend across the three days.
The unusual 2020 bus concerts also require no ticket. Check the official website for details of this year’s event.
How to get to the Donauinselfest
For the events on the island, don’t take a car. Jump on the subway to the Donauinsel or Handelskai stations.
The Donauinsel subway station is on the U1 line that traverses the city centre. Use the U6 line to reach Handelskai. The trains run at very short intervals into the night during the standard 3-day festival.
Address: Look for the long, wide watery object that passes through Vienna