Imagine sitting beneath a star-strewn sky on a balmy summer evening, listening to a bit of Puccini or Pink Floyd. Perhaps Sibelius or Ed Sheeran. That’s the Film Festival on the Rathausplatz…
- Free showings of operas, concerts, and gigs
- Giant screen starts up from dusk
- Large gastronomy section
- …with international food & drink
- 2026 dates: July 4 – Sept 6
- Book a classical concert experience* for Vienna
- See also:
- Events in Vienna
- Vienna in July and August
The film festival
(View across the film festival area from the roof of the Burgtheater opposite; press photo © stadtwienmarketing)
Each summer, the square in front of Vienna’s Rathaus city hall turns into an open-air cinema with a difference when the film festival rolls into town.
The term film festival needs further explanation. We’re not talking Steven Spielberg retrospectives or a celebration of Estonian film noir. Instead, it’s all about the music.
A giant screen shows recordings of opera productions and concert performances from across the music spectrum. Everything from the Beatles to Bernstein. And all set against a backdrop of fine central European neogothic architecture: you can’t get more cultural bonus points than that.
It’s all open air, too, though the previous edition brought five giant skyliner canopies offering shelter from too much sun or (perish the thought) rain.
Of course, people cannot live on culture alone.
This being Vienna, the area leading up to the seating around the giant screen becomes a gastronomic paradise, with numerous bars and restaurants serving food and drink from around the world.
(Enjoying a bite to eat before the show starts)
Plates of couscous and curry perhaps jostle with sausage and suckling pig, pasta and pancakes, steak or teriyaki salmon. All washed down with your beverage of choice. On my last trip, I enjoyed some excellent gyoza, for example.
And if this all sounds like a marvelous way to pass a summer’s evening, it is. With one caveat. It does get incredibly busy.
Over 900,000 visitors took in the atmosphere last season. Finding a place to sit and eat in the gastronomy area can be especially tricky in the hour or two preceding the film.
(If you want a dinner & music experience with a seat guarantee, try some of the light classical venues mentioned here.)
The film festival originally focused on opera alone, but now features a distinct mix of musical styles. A recording of Eric Clapton’s Baloise Session might follow an operetta by the composer, Emmerich Kálmán.
The previous edition, for example, followed a weekly schedule:
- Monday: classical
- Tuesday & Wednesday: varied…anything from operetta to jazz or rock
- Thursday, Friday & Saturday: legendary voices & concerts, including current pop productions
- Sunday: opera in collaboration with the Wiener Staatsoper
My last two visits to the event involved Ed Sheeran in concert at Wembley and the Les Misérables 25th anniversary concert.
At the 2025 festival, for example, we had concert recordings by Billie Eilish, Harry Styles, Katy Perry, Springsteen, Queen, Oasis, Whitney Houston, Janis Joplin, P!nk, the Rolling Stones, Pitbull, Robbie Williams, Paul McCartney, Tina Turner, and others.
On the classic front, the summer brought us La Bohème, Elektra, Rigoletto, Madama Butterfly, La Traviata, Die Fledermaus, Aida, Verdi’s Macbeth, Carmen, Mahler’s 9th symphony, Swan Lake, and more.
(View through the gastronomy area to the big screen)
2026 dates, tickets & tips
The coming 2026 festival runs from July 4th to September 6th.
Last time out, the gastronomy part opened daily from 11am to 11pm. The films typically begin at dusk.
So how much is entry to this cultural extravaganza going to cost you?
A big fat nothing.
You buy your food and drink as you’d expect, but the film showings are free. No ticket required.
Ideally, go early enough to enjoy your food and still have time to get a decent seat before the film starts. Having said that…while the central seats fill up fast, those in the wings often have spaces until fairly late and still offer a good view.
You can come and go as you like; you have no obligation to remain until the end if the mezzosoprano takes too long to finally succumb to a tragic illness in Act III.
How to get to the film festival
The Rathausplatz is very central and on the usual walking route around the city centre.
Subway: reach the Rathausplatz on the U2 subway line; get off at the Rathaus stop (surprise surprise).
Tram/bus: take trams 1, 71 and D to Rathausplatz / Burgtheater or tram 2 to Parlament.
Address: Rathausplatz, 1010 Vienna | Website