Music Film Festival at City Hall Square

The classic Viennese summer festival for the last 35 years: Rathausplatz will once again become a vibrant open-air meeting place for 65 days. From June 28 to August 31, the Film Festival will present world-class opera, classical, pop and rock music as well as culinary delights night after night. That’s what Vienna has to offer in summer. And admission is free!

Kultursommer Wien

Around 2,000 artists will take to the stage at the free open-air Kultursommer Wien festival taking place at various locations ranging from the heart of Vienna to its outer districts. From June 26 to August 10, 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 26 and 27 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 their own refreshments on picnic blankets while listening to the Vienna Symphony Orchestra perform under the baton of Petr Popelka, bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff with songs by Frank Sinatra and the three gentlemen of The Flying Schnörtzenbrekkers as part of the Strauss Year 2025 with its Strauss-themed range of events.

Show all pictures

1 /of 3

3 pictures

Theater in the Park

The Theater im Park am Belvedere starts in early summer, on May 20, with the program “Homo Idioticus 2.0 – Der Trottel ist zurück” (lit. The Idiot is Back) by cabaret artist and host Michael Niavarani. It is the prelude to a brilliant and diverse series of theater performances, cabaret, musicals, concerts, readings, philosophical discussions and a program of children’s events that runs until September 19.  The ticket includes free admission to the museum in the Upper Belvedere on the day of the event or the following day.

Locally renowned and internationally acclaimed artists will be performing, including Elina Garanca, the Vienna Boys’ Choir, Ursula Strauss, Ernst Molden, Philharmonix, Mark Seibert and the Science Busters. Authors Michael Köhlmeier and Joachim Meyerhoff will provide topics of conversation, while Michael Mittermayer, Andreas Vitásek, Gernot Kulis, Klaus Eckel and Maschek will make the audience laugh. To the delight of audiences, the popular in-house theater productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Venus and Jupiter are being extended this year.

2. Viennese Opera Summer: La Traviata

The Vienna Opera Summer has moved to a new venue in 2025. Verdi’s “La Traviata” will be performed on an open-air stage on twelve evenings in July in the 6,000 m² opera arena on Heumarkt, right next to the Wiener Konzerthaus – where ice skating is the order of the day in winter. Artistic Director and conductor Joji Hattori will direct a first-rate team consisting of international opera stars, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonia Chorus. Giuseppe Verdi’s opera will be performed in its original Italian, and the role of a narrator (Verdi himself) has been introduced, played by none other than the Oscar-winning Austrian actor Karl Markovics. (July 1 – 19, 2025, live subtitles in German, English and Italian via app).

Show all pictures

1 /of 2

2 pictures

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 running from July 7 to 30 is as wide-ranging as it is high-quality, with classics from literature, cabaret and theater as well as concerts ranging from classical to world music.

A performance of “La Notte Italiana” will mark the opening of the festival. Among the musicians will be Simone Kopmajer, Eric Papilaya, Tini Kainrath, Eva Marold, Sigrid Hauser, Wiener Blond and Louie Austen. Dirk Stermann, Thomas Maurer and Florian Scheuba will be devoting themselves to cabaret.

Africa Days Vienna

African music, art, culture and culinary delights are on the agenda in all their glorious diversity from August 8 to 18. The Africa Days Vienna festival on the Danube Island presents a close-up portrait of the continent, including open-air concerts in the evenings.

Popfest Wien

Popfest Wien is a regular summer highlight for anyone who loves contemporary music. This year, the festival will be held for the 16th time (July 24-27) with free admission and 50 acts for the 50,000 music fans who will pack themselves onto and around Karlsplatz.

Show all pictures

1 /of 5

5 pictures

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. In keeping with the Strauss Year 2025, there will also be a “Kinderfledermaus” and Johann Strauss’ Danube Waltz, a piece that culminates in the world-famous waltz danced by the legendary female Danube dancer in the puppet 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. Click here to go straight there.

And then there’s the highlight of the year for many dance enthusiasts: ImPulsTanz – Europe’s largest dance festival! – will once again bring together the international dance and performance scene in Vienna from July 10 to August 10. Contemporary stars of the dance world such as Meg Stuart, Marie Chouinard and the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch + Terrain Boris Chramatz will be performing on stage. With over 200 courses, the workshop program invites beginners and professionals of all ages to ballet, jazz, voguing, modern dance, hip hop and much more. And the free dance classes “Public Moves” (which are held outdoors!) invite visitors to get involved every day.

There is even more on in Vienna – updated daily in the EVENT DATABASE.