Art and culture events in Vienna

The Kunsthistorisches Museum presents the city views of Canaletto and his nephew Bernardo Bellotto together for the first time in the German-speaking world. Paintings of Venice, London and Vienna reveal how optical precision, atmosphere and painterly staging shaped images of European cities.

Kunsthalle Wien brings together current positions of contemporary art from Vienna across various media. The exhibition at MuseumsQuartier runs from May to October, showcasing how artists today produce and respond to the city.

The Theater am Spittelberg hosts concerts, cabaret, world music, and chanson in its covered courtyard. The small summer stage runs from June to the end of September; prices and start times vary depending on the program.

The Theater in the Park hosts cabaret, comedy, theater, music, and readings in the Schwarzenberggarten at Belvedere. The program changes almost daily; start times, prices, and availability depend on the specific performance.

The MQ Summer Stage features daily changing concerts, performances, readings, talks, and film screenings in the main courtyard of MuseumsQuartier. The free program runs from late May to late September, starting at various times depending on the event.

Photo Brut explores photographic positions outside established visual languages, connecting personal, raw, and experimental approaches. The exhibition is on view until September 6 at FOTO ARSENAL Wien.

Cinema on the Roof screens films daily on the rooftop of the Main Library with a view over the Gürtel. Under the theme MIND GAMES, the program includes classics, arthouse, international films, and Austrian productions; screenings are canceled in bad weather.

VOLXkino presents over 40 free open-air film nights in Vienna's parks, courtyards and public squares throughout the summer. Locations and start times vary by date; screenings usually begin at 9 pm in June and July, with earlier starts later in the summer.

Mira Gáberová, Marei Loellmann and Mario Mu explore how memory, the body and the surrounding world intersect in Where Boundaries Blur. Video, textiles and digital imagery form an intimate group exhibition in the freely accessible MQ Pop Up Showroom.

The Tschauner Stage in Ottakring presents a summer programme of improvised theatre, musical parodies, concerts and cabaret. The season runs from mid-June to early September, with regular evening performances on the open-air stage in Maroltingergasse.

At the KABINETT comic passage, Monika Ernst combines humour, irony and Viennese gruffness with questions about equality and social change. The free comic exhibition, published as KABINETT booklet no. 63, is accessible around the clock between the MQ courtyards.

WIENXTRA-Cinemagic and VOLXkino present free open-air screenings of youth and cult films from the 1990s and 2000s. The final three evenings take place in Weghuberpark on 1, 2 and 3 September, featuring Star Trek, Bibi & Tina 2 and a Mamma Mia! sing-along.

Aldo Giannotti turns the MQ Art Box into a walk-through corridor for the first time. Passing through becomes part of the work, raising questions about freedom of movement, public space and the rules of cultural institutions.

Wiener Neustadt Cultural Summer brings concerts, matinees, literature, theatre, children's events, city tours and other open-air formats to squares, parks and venues across the city from July to September. Every remaining date is listed separately with its title, start time and venue; admission is usually free, with a small number of paid exceptions marked in the programme.

Paintings and sculptures by Elisabeth Olivier exploring forests and the sea can be viewed around the clock in the freely accessible Dialogfenster entrance. The presentation runs until the end of August.

Until early September, the plaza at francis becomes a freely accessible summer venue with a lounge, bar and design market. Thursdays feature after-work DJ sets, Fridays bring open-air cinema, and Saturdays offer salsa and bachata.

Helmut Chlada presents large-format oil and acrylic paintings centred on geometric abstraction, alongside surrealist works. The exhibition opened on 16 August and runs until 13 September.

Young people aged 10 to 14 create avatars, collective creatures and animated worlds in two three-day workshop blocks. Each block ends with a presentation at FOTO ARSENAL WIEN.

Bernd Watzka reads humorous and satirical poems centred on his eccentric Viennese character Herlicek. The free series travels through parks, inns, cafés and a district hall across several Vienna neighbourhoods.

UTOPIA THEATER brings Jura Soyfer's satire about the conquest of America to several Vienna neighbourhoods as free open-air theatre. Action, cabaret-style dialogue and contemporary political relevance make the production suitable for all ages.

Three circus artists and a musician arrive in a new neighbourhood with a caravan. The mobile production combines acrobatics, music and comedy and performs free of charge in several Vienna squares and parks.

The art and antiques market at Am Hof offers rarities, paintings, historical prints, coins and other collectables on Fridays and Saturdays. It is held in the historic city centre and runs during the day until mid-November.

The group exhibition Water Resistance brings together artistic approaches to water, bodies, materials and urban infrastructure in the historic Alte Schieberkammer. Alongside the opening and closing events, the exhibition has two regular afternoon openings; additional visits can be arranged.

Children aged 6 to 12 build their own kites together in Helmut Zilk Park and can fly them straight away if the late-summer wind allows.

Across four free evenings, researchers discuss energy supply and storage, materials research, everyday technologies, climate change, the energy transition and artificial intelligence. The talks take place in the TU campus garden and explicitly invite audience discussion.

FROM CARINTHIA presents artistic positions from Carinthia at Vienna's Künstlerhaus. The exhibition connects established names including Maria Lassnig, Kiki Kogelnik, Hans Staudacher and Bruno Gironcoli with further perspectives from southern Austria.

Vienna Night Market brings independent creative labels, art and design stalls to Yppenplatz for one evening. Two participating labels confirm the 4 pm to 11 pm schedule. The market takes place on the same evening as Vienna's Long Night of Markets but is advertised under its own Night Market name.

This street festival on Wollzeile brings together traditional local businesses, musicians and artists for a day centred on experiencing Viennese character with all the senses.

This open family studio approaches the start of school through ink-eraser art, modelling-clay study buddies and playful concentration exercises. Entry is available every hour on four Saturdays, with each session lasting about 40 minutes.

Parallel Vienna is an exhibition and art fair for contemporary art at the Otto Wagner site. From September 9 to 13, galleries and artists present their work throughout the former hospital complex, accompanied by a programme such as tours and talks.

After 13 years, the post-migrant theatre, film and performance laboratory diverCITYLAB closes with a multi-part festival. The Kabelwerk programme combines sound performance, theatre and Titanic – Das Brot ist voll, followed by additional festival evenings at Kosmos Theater.

Curated by Sarah Johanna Theurer and Aditi Kapoor, this group exhibition examines the psychological costs of producing, using and consuming goods and infrastructure. Time-based media reveal hidden connections and dependencies within these systems.

For the curated by gallery festival, international curators develop exhibitions for 24 Vienna galleries. The opening weekend brings extended hours and tours, followed by the festival programme through mid-October.

WestLicht presents the World Press Photo exhibition in Vienna for the 25th time. It features 42 award-winning works selected from 57,376 submissions by more than 3,747 photographers from 141 countries.

At the Börseviertel Live street festival, local businesses and organisations around Rudolfsplatz introduce themselves. Music, food, encounters and participatory activities turn the afternoon into an open neighbourhood gathering.

Austria's nationwide Cinema Festival brings current releases and special screenings to Hollywood Megaplex Gasometer for a standard ticket price of EUR 5.90. The day also features a prize wheel, previews, family programming and a Disney Channel participation screening; premium formats may carry surcharges.

From 12 to 23 September, dotdotdot presents international and Austrian short films in the park of Palais Auersperg. The twelve open-air evenings also include conversations with filmmakers. Pay-as-you-can tickets are available exclusively through online advance sales; there is no box office at the venue.

Vienna Fashion Week brings around 40 Austrian and international designers to Hall E+G at MuseumsQuartier for fashion shows, side events, a shopping area and pop-up stores.

ART VIENNA brings Austrian and international galleries to the Schönbrunn Orangery with contemporary art, classical modernism and works spanning the 19th to 21st centuries. The three-day fair connects established positions with emerging artists.

The ALBERTINA brings Pablo Picasso and Francis Bacon together in a major exhibition of around 70 key works from international museums and private collections. Their radical depictions of the human figure, vulnerability, pain and desire take centre stage.

The Heidi Horten Collection presents a major solo exhibition of Elisabeth von Samsonow, bringing together sculpture, painting, drawing, film and a site-specific installation. The show centres on earth, the body, memory and transformation, while also connecting to works in the museum collection.

Under the theme Agency, the festival brings international and local thinkers together to explore how people can reclaim the capacity to act amid intersecting crises and algorithmic control.

The 20th Vienna Design Week showcases product, furniture, industrial, graphic and social design through exhibitions, installations, workshops, talks and tours at locations across Vienna.

Open House Vienna opens 53 doors to architecturally significant buildings and open spaces in 2026, some of which are normally inaccessible to the public. Every site can be visited free of charge and without advance registration through volunteer or expert tours.

The Vienna City Gallery Walk features guided tours and events in downtown galleries over several days. Participating venues showcase exhibitions, artist talks, and specials focusing on contemporary art and positions from Vienna and beyond.

This one-day symposium with an international line-up explores how cultural institutions can actively shape the future and foster participation in society. It focuses on responsibility, accessibility, sustainability and new forms of exchange in times of social transformation; the event is held in German and English.

At Tagebuch Slam people read from their real teenage diaries - embarrassing, honest and very funny. After years at TAG the series has been at Rabenhof since 2025, with four evenings in autumn 2026. On 12 September there is also a short appearance at Literaturmeile Zieglergasse.

Psychology Day at Vienna City Hall presents a free public programme on digitalisation, artificial intelligence, mental health, the future of work and residential psychology. Talks alternate with short participatory exercises, followed by a poetry slam hosted by FOMP Vienna.

More than 130 museums and galleries in Vienna stay open from 6 p.m. to midnight with one shared ticket, special tours, short programmes and shuttle routes.

FAIR FOR ART Vienna returns to the Vienna Künstlerhaus in 2026, presenting modern and contemporary art from Austrian and international galleries. The public fair runs for five days; the preview and vernissage on the preceding evening are by personal invitation only.

Design District turns Vienna's Hofburg into a three-day fair for interior design and lifestyle. Across more than 7,500 square metres, Austrian and international brands present furniture, interiors, real estate, technology, art and accessories to explore and try out.