You know, September’s not a bad month to visit Vienna. The summer holidays are over, so the Viennese roll back into town. Which means far more events to choose from.
The end of summer also means fewer visitors to compete with at exhibitions and similar. And the weather is still deciding whether it should be warm or cold, possibly settling for something pleasant in the middle.
- Book a classical concert experience* for September
- See also:
Top ideas for September 2025
Many event organisers hold fire until the locals come back from summer retreats and beach holidays. So, compared to August, September has a wider selection of fairs and festivals to offer alongside the usual museums, concerts, tours and similar.
My quick tip
As the evenings grow darker, then a concert in the breathtaking interior of some magnificent Baroque church seems like a fine plan.
Top options around the city centre include the Peterskirche (which I tried and enjoyed), Annakirche, and Karlskirche (which I also tried and loved).
Enjoy some art
(The Albertina art museum always has a highlight year-end exhibition)
Early September can be a bit of an ugly stepchild in the art world, but top exhibitions tend to begin mid-month in anticipation of the Christmas period.
Selected highlights
- Catch the final days of the Pigment & Pixel exhibition at Lower Belvedere (until September 7th), which explores the methods of the man, myth and legend that is Gustav Klimt
- Lower Belvedere also presents women artists from across the early part of the 20th century in their Radical! exhibition, thus adding new perspectives to our understanding of Modernism
- And, from September 25th, Lower Belvedere adds more icing to an already delightful cake with an exhibition of French Impressionism drawn from the Villa Langmatt collection. Names like Renoir, Monet and Cézanne…
- Upper Belvedere meanwhile has its own Klimt exhibition: take a deep dive into the unfinished work that is The Bride
- Two outstanding artists have solo exhibitions at the Albertina: photographer Jitka Hanzlová and light artist Brigitte Kowanz. The museum also continues its look at The Viennese Bohème (works by the Hagen Society) and begins Gothic Modern‘s dive into the influence of medieval aesthetics on modernism (from September 19th)
- Talking modernism, the Leopold Museum examines the artistic era around 1900 in the context of alternative spiritualities, philosophies and similar
- The Albertina Modern showcases drawings (yep) by Damian Hirst and offers you a last chance to view avant garde highlights from the Viehof collection (until September 7th)
- At the Heidi Horten Collection, see how Vienna has changed through the decades in images by artists from different centuries (Stefan Oláh, Balthasar Wigand and Rudolf von Alt)
- The last day of September brings us an exhibition for Baroque artist Michaelina Wautier and contemporaries like Rubens at the Kunsthistorisches Museum
- Travel back to the 1960s and the art world of the time in the mumok’s Mapping the 60s exhibition. Or indulge in an internal museum retrospective for the 1980s
- Belvedere21 has an intriguing exhibition for us around the noted sculptor Fritz Wotruba with additional works by contemporaries
- Review various perspectives on the idea of God at the Jewish Museum or examine Roger Cremers’ photos that capture the echoes and legacy of WWII and the Shoah in today’s world
- The Wien Museum traces the impact of international culture on Austria’s domestic version in the aftermath of WWII (until September 7th) and explores the impact of something rather more concrete (in fact…actual concrete) on the cityscape around 1900
- WWII also features in the National Library’s photo exhibition: as the name suggests, A Century in Pictures looks back at the last ten decades of Austrian history
- More history of a sociocultural nature over at the Weltmuseum with its in-depth look at trousers across the centuries
- Splash about in the last few days of the Water Pressure exhibition at the MAK: a multigenre multifaceted exhibition on this precious resource and its future (until September 7th). And enjoy Christmas tree decorations of the past at their Dressed Up exhibition (from September 24th)
Check the exhibition listings for more suggestions as they come in.
Other art & humanities events
(Calle Libre brings colour and commentary to the urban landscape)
Alongside the museal exhibitions, we also have various art markets and other events. These include:
- The Calle Libre festival (2025 dates TBA), which has, for example, “live paintings” as leading street artists create giant works of contemporary art on the sides of buildings in Vienna
- Viennacontemporary (September 11th to 14th): a huge art fair that brings together galleries from all over the world
- Parallel Vienna (September 10th to 14th): a unique “hybrid art fair, exhibition platform and artist studio”
- The Art Vienna fair (September 19th to 21st): a 3-day art fair that gathers together numerous art galleries and usually features works of international and regional importance, as well as giving a platform to up and coming artists
- The Vienna ArtPark (2025 dates TBA): numerous artists turn a small park in the centre into an open-air gallery where you can buy what you see
- Art at the Park (2025 dates TBA): high-end art fair in the elegant surrounds of the Park Hyatt hotel
- Kunst & Kramuri (2025 dates TBA) is a creative market supporting local artists
- The WAMP design market holds an autumn edition this month (2025 dates TBA)
- The Fair for Art Vienna event covers modern and contemporary art (September 27th to October 5th)
September also brings us the Vienna Humanities Festival (September 22nd to 28th), where international speakers and panelists explore numerous themes relevant to our times in both German and English. The events at the weekend were free to attend last time out.
And the month might have Karlstag (2025 dates TBA), celebrating life in and around the central Karlsplatz square with special tours of the many surrounding art and cultural institutions, music, a kids festival and similar.
Treat your taste buds
(Live coffee creativity; press photo courtesy of Vienna Coffee Festival)
The way to a man’s heart is, allegedly, through his stomach. And the way to the Viennese heart is actually the same. September has a few related festivals to whet your appetite.
- If you’re up for something a little more spirited (ba dum tish!), try the Rum & Tequila festivals (September 19th to 20th). Local interest in such drinks has shot up recently. Tastings, talks, food, music, and more
- The city has the Vienna Coffee Festival (September 12th to 14th): not a staid industry event, but a caffeine-fueled celebration of the bean, with music, competitions, tastings, demonstrations, and more
- The Erntedankfest (September 6th and 7th) is a weekend festival bringing Austria’s agriculture into the city, armed with truckloads of regional specialties from all over the country
- The Oktoberfest concept has relatives in Vienna. For example:
- Kaiser Wiesn near the Prater entertainment complex (September 25th to October 12th)
- The Oktoberfest at Gleis//Garten in the 12th district (2025 dates TBA)
- On the wine front, a themed hiking weekend (2025 dates TBA) features routes around the areas closely associated with wine growing and wine taverns, who offer stops along the way
Autumnal competition
(The announcement of the coming tram world championships; press photo © Stadt Wien / Bubu Dujmic)
The 5km Vienna Night Run (September 25th) offers an opportunity to stretch your legs and lose some of the calories accumulated at all the above events. Not a competitive race as such…more a chance to run around the famous Ringstrassen for a good cause.
Meanwhile, Vienna hosts the very first tram driver world championships on September 13th, where different countries will compete in various disciplines to demonstrate their mastery of the tram.
Get a little modern (and classic)
(Scene from a previous Buskers Festival; press photo © Buskers Wien)
Vienna is an elegant city, rich in history and numerous buildings whose names end in Palace. But it’s a big, thriving capital city, too, with urban and contemporary culture to share. For example:
- Vienna Fashion Week (2025 dates TBA) lets you enjoy daily catwalk shows and more from prestigious local and international designers
- Vienna Design Week (September 26th to October 5th) offers a host of events and exhibitions around the city with all sorts of tracks and channels to pick from
- The Buskers Festival (next dates TBA) turns street entertainment into an art form, with free performances from some of the world’s best…enjoy musicians, magicians, acrobats, clowns, dancers, and more
- Hollywood in Vienna (next dates TBA) honours the people behind the film scores with a concert and gala evening. The last award winner, for example, was Alan Menken, whose numerous movie credits include Academy Award-winning music for various Disney productions.
Go behind the scenes
(The Hofburg often opens special areas for the Tag des Denkmals)
September has special treats for those who like to go behind closed doors or enjoy special insights into some of the many wonderful buildings and institutions in the city. And they’re all free.
- Tag des Denkmals (September 28th) is Vienna’s contribution to European Heritage Day, when numerous historical buildings unlock their doors. Many open to the public for this day only
- And talking of opening doors, Open House Vienna (2025 dates TBA) follows a similar concept but with newer buildings and architectural initiatives. Vienna’s famous social housing projects usually get good coverage at this
- The central Am Hof square hosts the annual festival of the Vienna fire services (September 5th to 7th) with demonstrations and similar. The other emergency services participate, too
- And Karlsplatz square hosts Public Transport Day (2025 dates TBA), with entertainment and a peek at the work of our wonderful municipal transport authority, Wiener Linien
Go in front of the screen
If you want to escape it all and enter other worlds, you can always try:
- The SLASH film festival with its focus on the fantastical and imaginary (September 18th to 28th)
- The Vienna Independent Film Festival, which supports the indie movie world (September 15th to 17th)
- Kino am Dach, which has daily open-air showings of films on the roof of Vienna’s main city library through the summer and probably until mid-September (?)
- The Queerfilmfestival, which has showings of the best of recent queer filmmaking (2025 dates TBA)
Seasonal tip(s)
(New season at the State Opera House)
September marks the start of the new season in opera, music and theatre after the summer break. So look for performances at, for example:
- The city’s main opera houses: Staatsoper, Volksoper and Theater and der Wien
- The prestigious concert halls that are the Musikverein and Konzerthaus
- The Burgtheater and the English-language theatres
Look out, too, for the classical concerts designed for visitor needs, with a programme of light music and often options to add on dinner.