23 things you NEED to do to make the most out of August in Vienna - Vienna Würstelstand

The English speaking magazine. Making the most out of Vienna and life.

23 things you NEED to do to make the most out of August in Vienna

Something for the book nerds

O-töne Literaturfest im Museumsquarter

The ö-tONE literature festival will take place within the Museumsquartier for over a month, starting in the middle of July. The festival will shine a light on several Austrian contemporary literature writers and show the great diversity of authors in our small, cute country. Readings will take place on eight selected dates throughout summer. For detailed info on the festival programme, check out the website.

 

Mama Africa is calling from the Donauinsel 

Afrika Tage Wien 2023

If you are missing out on festivals this year, fear not! The Afrika Tage is here to provide. It’s exactly the festival you’d expect it to be – colourful, full of music and food. This festival is happening on the Donauinsel and is a great opportunity to immerse yourself in another culture. Check out more info and the programme on their website!

Tip: The prices on the other days vary, so check out their website.

Get sucked in by some stories on the big screen under the stars

Catch a film under the starry night sky

Open air cinemas are one of the highlights of the summer season in this city. No more pondering for movie lovers on whether to stay in or head out. Open air cinemas offer those who get their tan from a movie screen a great way to spend an evening outside. Vienna offers a variety of open air cinemas, each screening a different flavour of film.

We’ve gathered the best open-air cinemas you can visit in Vienna, so be sure to check out our article!

Enjoy a summer full of art and culture events

Kultursommer 2023

Vienna’s fantastic arts and culture scene will be on display as part of the city-wide Kultursommer festival. With a diverse (and huge) programme, there’s something to see for all – even a garden concert in front of retirement homes for all the Omas and Opas living there! We love this concept! If you’re a culture vulture and you know what’s good for you then be sure to check out the programme.

Get your body moving and dance your heart out

ImPulsTanz – Vienna International Dance Festival

Vienna’s dance festival of all dance festivals, ImPulsTanz, is back and they’ve sure got a lot of workshops and performances lined up that are worth doing your happy dance about.

There will be multiple performances and hundreds of workshops. So get your dancing pants on and get yourself tickets for one of the performances or register for one of the classes.

Check out the full Impulstanz programme.

Good to know: The ImPulsTanz Festival also hosts special club nights to celebrate the festivities at the Burgtheater Vestibül. All in the name of the ImPulsTanz Social Festivallounge, which has different themes for every event. Be sure to check it out!

Anime and Manga fans listen up

AniNite 2023

Get your cosplay or fursuit ready: Austria’s largest Anime and Manga festival is coming! You’ll find various artists, cosplayers and merchandise sellers there, next to a packed to the rim program with contests and showacts.

 

Let out your big belly laughs at these culture and cabaret events happening in a park

Theater im Park

When a former royal garden opens up for the entertainment of us peasants, like the garden of the Palais Schwarzenberg is doing for the summer-long Theater im Park, it might be time to dust off that suit and dress you got in the back of your closet. Ok, you won’t need to dress up for this as it’s a nice casual affair. A good dose of culture, theater and cabaret is going to be served up to you right in the park under the stars if you buy a ticket for one of the shows going on all summer. Check out their programme!

Beer and bites at the brewery

Ottakringer Bierfest 2023

It’s that time again when the beloved city’s beer brewery, Ottakringer Brauerei, comes to life for summer, as they’ve set up the Ottakringer Bierfest.

Most importantly, if you ask us, there will be lots of beer flowing – different kinds of beer produced in their brewery, to be specific.

This year, there will even be something called ‘beer yoga’ (however that’s supposed to work). So be sure to come by and enjoy a fresh cold beer from their broad assortment while doing… yoga.

To check out what will be happening, have a look at the programme for more details.

Enjoy life by the waterside

Spend some time by the Donaukanal

It doesn’t take much to spend an amazing evening at the Donaukanal. And we suggest you spend a bit of time down there by the waterside during June and July and August. Just as much time as you can spare because it feels good. Make sure to follow our list of the DOs and DON’Ts, so you have a good experience.

Wander through the wine hills of Vienna and enjoy the Heurige wine taverns

Head out to the Heurige

Vienna looooves its wine and during this time of the year, a big part of the city can be found up on the wine hills surrounding the city, throwing back bottles of the liquid of the Gods and cooling in the shade of well tangled vines.

For beginners, head out to the 19th district’s area of Grinzing and pick from the many nice Heurige gardens aligning the streets. There, you can sit and enjoy the local, self-produced wine, that you must pair with some unpretentious but tasty Schmankerl (a snack made of cold cuts, cheese and spreads). Some Heuriger have a hot buffet to choose some limited but carefully selected Austrian dishes.

For a more authentic and non-touristy wine expedition, head out to Stammersdorf where you can follow our tipsy-tips for a full experience.

The fun doesn’t stop here: the areas around Vienna are packed with Heurige, so anytime you want to be surrounded by grape vines, check out our guide to the wine growing and Heurige-hosting regions around Vienna.

And in case you want to brush up your Heurige-Know-How before heading out to one of them, we’ve got some facts about Heurige we bet you didn’t know.

 

We dare you!

Try these Vienna-inspired dives

Do something different this year when you’re going for a swim in the Danube and try one of these Vienna-inspired dives from the video below.  It will be fun, we promise. Jumping into the water like a boring person is so last year, anyway.

 

Listen to music and munch your way through food stands at the Rathaus

Filmfestival Rathausplatz 2023

Ah, the joys of living in Vienna. There is something quite unique going on every summer in this city’s heart, right at the Rathausplatz. From July to September a great variety of concerts ranging from classic ballets, operas and Jazz to Pop and dance will be shown on a huge screen in front of the Rathaus. For free, we might add.

There’s a huge screen installed in front of the beautiful town hall, with enough seats to accommodate a small village from Vorarlberg. The films begin at sundown. However, from 11am onwards, there are a plethora of food stands featuring cuisine from around the globe. We feel like you can find nearly anything from every corner of this world there. It’s a culinary heaven!

So enjoy sitting in the shade, have a Spritzer and wait for the film to begin. Throughout the summer, most films will be played twice. Most nights, there are also live performances of some sort before the screenings. Check out the full programme.

What would we do without Schanigärten

Eat out in a glorious Schanigarten

One of the best things to be doing in summer doesn’t involve you doing much at all – sitting in one of Vienna’s lovely Schanigarten.

With a multitude of Schanigärten on offer, spending your evenings in one of them whilst enjoying a drink or a meal is a must for everyone in Vienna this month of warm summer nights.

We’ve put together a list of some of the outdoor dining spots with absolutely gorgeous Schanigärten.

Enjoy dinner or have a night out at the river

Head out to the river for some dining or drinking

More and more places have been popping up along the Danube river in recent years, meaning you have plenty of spots to enjoy a view which is as good as the food on your plate, or the drink in your hand.

Be it for food or to party (or both), you should definitely spend some time at these awesome places along the Danube river to make the most out of your summer.

Celebrate with the Mexican community!

Azteken Festival Wien 2023

Organised by the Mexican community in Austria, the Aztec festival will be a colourful intercultural peace festival. It’s an afternoon for the whole family, including traditional Aztec ritual dances, live music, and plenty of food and drinks.

 

Beaches in Vienna? Yes.

Sink your toes into the sand at these beach bars

What screams summer more than sand, beaches, and the sun? Well, even though Vienna doesn’t have any natural beaches, there are actually many places that can offer you all of these things! (Say what?!)

Yes, going to one of these beach bars should definitely be on your summer bucket list, so if you’re wondering where your nearest sandy beach is located, we’ve put together a list of places where you can sink your toes into the sand, whilst having some refreshing drinks. Be sure to check out our article!

Be sure to do this

Party your ass off at an open air party

One thing you need to do this month to make the most out of the, well, more or less quality weather (when there is not a full-ass hurricane going on outside) this year is to party party! party! (WHOOP! WHOOP!) Just remember all of those days of lockdown that you dreamt of getting sweaty with some strangers on the dancefloor every time you’re trying to decide whether to go out, or not. Plus, it’s summer so you can do all of your partying outdoors!

Knowing that you probably aren’t experts on events, (*cough* we are) we thought we’d suggest you constantly keep an eye on our event guide, so you’ll be in the know when all of the cool parties are happening.

Get drunk up high

Enjoy a drink or two (or the view) at one of these rooftops

There’s nothing that screams summer more than the cold, sweaty feel of a martini glass in your hand as you look out over the Danube, right? (The cold, sweaty feel was the martini glass. Not us. Just to clarify.) Vienna has some fantastic rooftop bars where you can enjoy food, drinks and a stunning view of the sunset. And weeeeeee so kindly made a list of the coolest rooftop bars in Vienna. You’re welcome.

Break a sweat even though you're just watching

A1 CEV EuroBeachVolley Vienna 2023

Everyone’s favourite summer sport is here: beach volleyball! And this year you won’t have to watch some really sad amateur matches between tech students, no, internationally ranked teams from all over Europe will play to win at the A1 CEV EuroBeachVolley. So pack your binoculars and sunscreen and cheer your heart out. (Or scream unnecessary advice at the players, we’re sure they love that!)

Stroll around the Gürtel and enjoy events gallore

Gürtel Nightwalk

We’ve all had those messy nights below the neon lights of the bars located along the Gürtel, and there’s a festival that will encourage more of that close to the end of this month – the Gürtel Nightwalk.

If you haven’t done this before, than just imagine hopping from bar to bar, stage to open-air stage, with a drink in hand, and plenty of music being pumped into your ears – it’s good wholesome fun. This year, various clubs and bars will be participating and there will be 3 open air stages with rockin’ live performances singing into the streets of Vienna. If you’re home before 4am without a horrible pain in your stomach from that Käsekrainer you downed just before calling it a night, you haven’t done the night justice.

 

Check out this film festival

STUMM & LAUT – Filmfest am Columbusplatz 2023

At the film festival, Stumm & Laut, you’ll be in for a treat this summer. At the 10th district’s Columbusplatz, a raft of old silent films will be screened, while live music will be performed along with it like a live soundtrack.

Plant the date

Veganmania Rathausplatz

Calling itself the biggest Vegan Fest in Austria, there’s a vast array of vegan-centric companies and brands taking part. Over the course of three days, there will be vegan food galore on offer, as well as music and activities that are all 100% animal-friendly. Whether you are vegan or not, there will be definitely something that will blow your mind, as well as give you ideas on what to cook when the vegans come for dinner.

 

Performing arts meet fine art heritage

Ganymed Bridge

You’ve probably seen the posters advertising this event all over town, but perhaps you’re still wondering what it is? Well, the Ganymed events at the Kunsthistorisches Museum show its picture gallery in a new light with breathtaking performances hosted there. For the very first time, they are also incorporating the Naturhistorisches Museum in their shows. You can visit a total 15 stations revolving all around the intersection of art and nature.

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