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Florentina Holzinger, Opening of the Wiener Festwochen 2021
© Appolonia Bitzan

Vienna Festival

The festival weeks become months: over 30 productions inject powerful signs of life into the cultural scene through September – with breaks in between. On show will be powerful home-grown productions, twelve world premieres, and international works from all artistic disciplines.

Due to coronavirus, the festival will open in May and then have two installments in the early and late summer. Making it an exciting warm-up for newly blossoming theater and cultural life. Artistic director Slagmuylder has announced 34 productions, including a dozen premieres by longstanding and, for Vienna, newly discovered artists.

Opening: live broadcast on TV

The 70th anniversary of the festival will be celebrated on May 14 with an opening concert. Thanks to the live broadcast on ORF 2 and 3sat, viewers can experience Mira Lu Kovacs, the Herbert Pixner Project, Die Strottern, and many others from the comfort of home. The crowning end to the evening is the parade on City Hall Square, choreographed by Florentina Holzinger feat. Soap&Skin: a spectacular procession of disciplined bodies and noisy machines.

Das Lied von der Erde, Philippe Quesne - Wiener Festwochen 2021
During the Vienna Festival 2021: Philippe Quesne's "Das Lied von der Erde" (The Song of the Earth), inspired by Gustav Mahler's symphonic song cycle. – © Kaupo Kikkas
Mira Lu Kovacz, Opening of the Wiener Festwochen 2021
Mira Lu Kovacz, one of the artists taking part in the opening of the Vienna Festival 2021. – © Wolfgang Bohusch
Soap & Skin, Opening of the Wiener Festwochen 2021
Soap & Skin, protagonist in the opening concert. To celebrate in 2021: 70 years of the Vienna Festival. – © Poly Maria
Florentina Holzinger, Opening of the Wiener Festwochen 2021
Florentina Holzinger – also participating in the opening concert, which combines music from across three centuries. – © Appolonia Bitzan
Das Lied von der Erde, Philippe Quesne - Wiener Festwochen 2021
During the Vienna Festival 2021: Philippe Quesne's "Das Lied von der Erde" (The Song of the Earth), inspired by Gustav Mahler's symphonic song cycle. – © Kaupo Kikkas
Mira Lu Kovacz, Opening of the Wiener Festwochen 2021
Mira Lu Kovacz, one of the artists taking part in the opening of the Vienna Festival 2021. – © Wolfgang Bohusch
Soap & Skin, Opening of the Wiener Festwochen 2021
Soap & Skin, protagonist in the opening concert. To celebrate in 2021: 70 years of the Vienna Festival. – © Poly Maria
Florentina Holzinger, Opening of the Wiener Festwochen 2021
Florentina Holzinger – also participating in the opening concert, which combines music from across three centuries. – © Appolonia Bitzan

The opening is also the starting shot for two exhibitions: Maria Hassabi shows Here, a brand-new live installation conceived for the Main Hall of the Secession. At the Kunsthalle Wien, the Peruvian curator Miguel A. López presents his show on environmental destruction, entitled And if I devoted my life to one of its feathers?

New takes on Mahler and Schönberg

International and innovative productions, a familiar mix from the disciplines of theater, dance, music, and performance – that's what makes up the Vienna Festival. Among the many exciting festival contributions:

Philippe Quesne's Lied von der Erde (Song of the Earth) is a unique piece of musical theater dedicated entirely to the landscape. The artist has chosen Mahler's deeply beautiful song cycle to stage the complex relationship between the human species and nature. To listen to: the world-class ensemble Klangforum Wien.

Arnold Schönberg composed the famous, unique Pierrot lunaire in 1912. Now, 109 years, later, the choreographer Marlene Monteiro Freitas brings her own version of the melodrama to the stage.

Vienna Festival 2021

May 14, 2021: opening concert on City Hall Square – live broadcast via ORF 2 and 3sat (9.20 pm)
June 3 – middle of July 2021
August 24 – September 25, 2021
Program, information, tickets: www.festwochen.at