New Year's Celebrations in Austria
Heading to Austria for New Year's Eve? Congrats, you have made the right choice! Austria is the place to be to ring in the new year and take in the festive activities all around the country. Fireworks, concerts, balls, parties, you name it, we have it all! And if you have always dreamt of waltzing on the streets with a glass of bubbly in your hand at Midnight, even better, your time has officially come!
Vienna's entire inner city turns into a massive party zone on New Year's Eve, attracting up to one million people yearly. The Silvesterpfad "New Year's Path" starts at 2 pm on December 31 and ends at 2 am on January 1. Enjoy concerts on the streets, dance to the ever-present sound of the waltz and the latest chart hits and watch the fireworks at the stroke of Midnight, accompanied by all the church bells ringing (and half the town dancing to the Blue Danube Waltz on the street!). Wondering about the stalls selling little pigs, shamrocks and chimney sweeps along the path? Austrians are big on lucky charms. Other things we quite like on New Year's (and any other winter day): Mulled wine and punch to warm up!
If you prefer to count down the hours indoors, you might want to book a ticket for the New Year's Eve Ball, held at the Imperial Palace (back in 2023). On New Year's Eve and January 1, the Viennese State Opera and the Volksoper host gala performances of Johann Strauss' "Die Fledermaus" ("The Bat").
But it's not just Vienna that knows how to celebrate. Parties are held all over the country on New Year's Eve. Innsbruck, for example, has brass band parades and evening fanfares in the Old Town and artistic light displays are projected onto the façades of the buildings. The best place to watch the fireworks and laser shows are the surrounding mountains such as the Nordkette.
In Salzburg, there is live music at Residenzplatz and fireworks all around town, while the traditional New Year's Salute is fired off at Hohensalzburg Fortress.
Graz traditionally welcomes the New Year with a laser show and DJs on the main square and parties at bars and clubs all around town, in Linz locals and visitors gathers at the main square, the Danube river and the Schlossberg and Pöstlingberg mountain to watch the fireworks.
It has long been a Philharmonic tradition to celebrate New Year's Day with a lively - and at the same time nostalgic - music programme from the vast repertoire of the Johann Strauss family and its contemporaries. The Vienna New Year's Concert not only delights the live audience in the Musikverein but also enjoys great popularity worldwide.
Tickets are like gold dust. With the demand way higher than the number of actual seats available, they are drawn every year. Register your interest here every February, then sit tight and keep your fingers crossed.
Broadcasted on the PBS network and BBC 2 among many other global TV stations, the Vienna New Year's Concert traditionally attracts about 50 million viewers in over 90 countries - making it the most famous classic concert around the world.
