Donauinselfest Festival

Date : June
Place : Donauinsel , Vienna,Austria
Famous For : Music Festival
Attractions : Open Air music festival, Dishes from Thai, Greek, Italian, Indian, Turkish, Vegetarian and Austrian cuisine.

The Donauinselfest is an annual open-air free music festival held in Donauinsel town of Vienna in Austria. Also popular by the name of Danube Island Festival, the Donauinselfest usually happens in mid-June. Only in 2008, the event happened in September in order to prevent clashing with the European Football Championship, which was co-hosted by Austria.

Major Attractions

The Donauinselfest is Europe's biggest open air event according to numerous media reports. Some 1500 volunteer assistants and visible police presence help make the Donauinselfest one of the most secure big events. There are 21 areas called "islands" that are normally sponsored by radio stations, newspapers and other companies. These are spread out over a 6.5 kilometer area of the total of 21 kilometer island. Musicians of an extremely broad range of genres perform. The layout is roughly the same every year, with some stages being removed or added. The musicians also tend to come back every year, or being replaced by other ones that are popular. One is the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, which performs one of its open air concerts on Monday evening after the pop events. Food kiosks serve various national and alternative dishes including Thai, Greek, Italian, Indian, Turkish, Vegetarian and Austrian cuisine. Although all concerts are free, financial experts calculate Vienna's economy benefits from this event by almost million, due to the increased tourism.