Holidays and Festivals in Austria

Austria has a rich culture and history which is celebrated throughout the country in many different ways, one of the most enjoyable being its holidays and festivals. Some of these are overtly religious while others are more cultural and celebrated for socializing opportunities. Again a few of the holidays have a distinctly nationalist character.

New Year

Like rest of the world, New Year’s Day is celebrated in Austria on January 1 but what gives the holiday a special character is the celebration of Sylvesteraband or the New Years’ Eve. In some places, people come out of their houses and into the streets with bottles of champagne and when the clock strikes twelve, they greet each other with the words, “Prosit Neujhar”. A event which is in an extricable part of New Year’s Day celebrations as also a reminder of Austria’s tradition of high culture is a concert of light classical music by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra from the world renowned Musikvereinsall; in fact the performance is also broadcast by radio and television and thus reaches international audiences as yet another living example of the country’s fine arts tradition.

St Nicholas Day

While children in most parts of the world wait till Christmas for Santa’s arrival with the promise of presents, Austrian kids get to celebrate it much earlier on December 6 which is observed as Saint Nicholas’ Day. While this day is celebrated in many continental countries as well, in Austria the festivities get an special touch – the evening before a figure with horns, resembling the Devil and known as Krampus goes around dragging a chain and carrying a birch rod, whose apparent purpose is to administer punishment to children who have been naughty throughout the year. Though with Christian underpinnings, Saint Nicholas is more of a cultural and social festival in the country.

Christmas Day

Unlike many parts of the world, Austrians celebrate Christmas as a primarily family holiday. Shops and businesses shut down early on Christmas Eve and families get together to put up the Christmas tree, exchange presents after which they sit down to a light meal. Attending the midnight mass is also an important part of Christmas observances, especially among  the religious.  Incidentally, the popular Christmas carol, “Silent Night, Holy Night” originated in Austria – according to history, a church curate Josef Mohr near Salzburg gave the church organist Franz Huber a poem he had written and asked him to compose a melody for it. This carol continues to be sung at Christmas at the church in Oberndof and all around the world as well.

In Austria Christmas Day is a quiet holiday when people go visiting friends and families. However the atmosphere is usually livened up by Christmas markets which are an Austrian tradition and are put up all over the country with the beginning of the Advent period. The biggest ones are in Vienna, Salzburg and Innsbruck and here you can sample Gluehwein (hot spiced wine) while wandering round the atmospheric market stalls, wrapped up warm against the cold, and looking for some interesting gifts and souvenirs to take home.

Easter

The other major religious festival in Austria is Easter which is observed with great elaboration by people of this mainly Roman Catholic country. Easter starts with a service on Palm Sunday when branches of pussy willow, known as Palmkatzchen in the local culture, are blessed and used to decorate houses. Prayers are held at the Seven Stations of the Cross in Holy Week and a vigil is held on the Saturday leaving to the first Mass of Easter Day. In some areas, bonfires are lit on Easter Eve, in a throwback to Pagan origins which celebrated the arrival of spring. This celebration of new beginnings on Easter takes the form of many music festivals held around Easter in Austria. Among these, The Salzburg Easter Festival is a well-known annual event. Featuring opera and classical music, with the Berliner Philharmonic orchestra, this attracts many visitors to the city. Easter markets also open in many towns and cities, with the biggest one in Vienna.

Fasching

Yet another wide-ranging day of celebration that has far exceeded its religious motivation is Fasching which is held in February. This is the equivalent of Mardi Gras and is an occasion for great partying and dancing before the beginning of Lent which is marked by fasting and restrictions. Many formal balls are held during Fasching – three hundred of them in Vienna alone, the most prestigious among them being the Opera Ball or Opernball at the Vienna State Opera.
Other minor religious festivals celebrated in Austria are Epiphany or the Feast of the Three Kings on January 6 when children go from door to door and collect sweets, Assumption on 15 August, All Saints Day on 1 November and Immaculate Conception on 8 December. Besides these Ascension Day, Whit Monday and Corpus Christi, are all celebrated on various days in May or June. These feast days, celebrating the Last Supper and the Assumption of the Virgin Mary are marked by special Church masses, colorful processions through the streets, flowers and brass bands.

Austrian National Day

The most important national festival of the country is the Austrian National Day held on October 26 which commemorates the day in 1955 when Austria regained its full independence. Schools often hold special ceremonies for their pupils while other functions are held in civic places.

Cultural festivals

Austria is widely known for its tradition of high culture, arts and music and many of its festivals celebrate these. For those who enjoy classical music,  there are a whole lot of events to choose from. Salzburg is the center for many of these and in August, it plays host to one of the biggest which is centered around Austria’s best known composer, Mozart. There are also festivals which celebrate opera, such as the Bregenz festival, and other composers, such as the Schubertiade.

Not all the festivals in Austria are classical music festivals though. For example, you could visit the Saalfelden Jazz Festival, the Vienna Jazz Festival, or the Ars Electronica Festival to share the average Austrian’s passion for great music and culture.