Vienna shrugs off its modesty, puts on its finest clothes and presents some of the best the city has to offer in the #wienliebe three-day festival.
- New open-air festival
- Focus on gastronomy, with music, arts & crafts
- Located on the central Rathausplatz
- 2025 dates: TBA (was May 24-26 in 2024: the inaugural event)
- See also:
Celebrating a city
(The imposing Rathaus makes a great background and the broad white canopies offer an alternative to the usual wooden booths found at such events)
Now here’s a festival after my own heart.
Vienna often hosts events presenting the delights of one of Austria’s regions, like the Steiermark, Burgenland, the Weinviertel or the Waldviertel.
And now, like a debutante stepping out after watching from the sidelines, Vienna finally presents…Vienna; the #wienliebe festival took place for the first time in May 2024, with the intention of it becoming an annual event.
The name translates to Vienna Love, and the first edition on the large Rathausplatz square attracted around 54,000 visitors with three days of culinary, cultural and crafted treats for locals and visitors alike.
Food & drink
(The Bitzinger folk were there last time out. The photo shows their popular sausage stand near the Albertina museum)
Vienna is known for its Heuriger wine taverns, sausage stands, and cafés. Not to mention its cakes and traditional foods like Wiener Schnitzel, which is practically a staple food here.
All the above made an appearance at #wienliebe courtesy of some of the better-known city establishments.
So we had, for example, Plachutta (famous for their beef Tafelspitz), the Schweizerhaus from the Prater (ditto for their pork knuckle), Bitzinger (all about the sausages), Gerstner (bringing on the cake, with coffee house furniture too) and Zum Schwarzen Kameel (traditional Viennese cooking).
Most of the offered menus were heavy on meat, but you could still find one or two vegetarian /vegan options (notably at the Wiener Heuriger stand).
Our city brewery spread Viennese tradition in half-litre glasses. And you had a chance to sample the city’s best wines (Vienna has a flourishing wine sector thanks to the kindness of the local geological and meteorological deities).
Music & (agri)culture
(Various entertainments took place on a large stage)
Traditional Viennese songsters use the kind of accented German you won’t find on your language app. But a programme of stage performances took in a wider spectrum of offerings. From chamber music and waltzes to musical theatre, brass bands, rap and hip hop.
A small number of booths allowed local businesses to showcase their handcrafted products. These covered the kind of crafts you find at the seasonal Christmas markets.
And the adjoining park featured a farmer’s market, offering up goodies from farms and food businesses. Along with vineyards, Vienna has some significant food growing areas, especially horticulture (not so much alpine cattle).
Indeed, one of the fascinating facts I like to bore people with and ensure they never invite me to dinner again is that Vienna produces more aubergines than the rest of the country combined. I really am that fun at parties.
2025 dates, tickets & tips
I don’t have info on the 2025 edition just yet. The inaugural 2024 festival ran from May 24th to May 26th. Entry was free, and opening times were:
- Friday: 2pm to 10pm
- Saturday: 10am to 10pm
- Sunday: 10am to 6pm
My experience with these big open-air festivals is that they can get very busy. We usually go at the start of the Saturday or Sunday before the crowds grow.
How to get to #wienliebe
The Rathausplatz is central and best reached directly by tram (though you can walk to it easily from various subway stations in the centre).
Trams: Line 2 to Parlament or lines 1, D, 71 to Rathausplatz / Burgtheater
Subway: The U2 should stop at Rathaus (assuming the line has reopened by then after a long period of construction work)
Address: Rathausplatz, 1010 Vienna | Website