Top 5 Music Festivals in Austria, Austria

A unique opera festival, Mörbisch isn't just for those who love to hear a good soprano or critique an alto — it’s for anyone who can listen to and appreciate a beautiful voice in a stunning location. Mörbisch Lake Festival offers performances on the largest open-air stage in the world, which coincidentally happens to sit on a National Park lake. Pretty dreamy right? Over most of July until the end of August, tickets are available for a variety of performances showcasing some of the opera world’s most renowned voices. Just 60km southeast of Vienna, this unrivalled event makes for the bucket list and is well worth the trip.

With a quarter of a million descending on the city of Mozart, the Salzburger Festspiele is the biggest cultural event in Austria and celebrates a summer of concerts and theatre. With around 220 musical events at 14 venues around the city, the 2016 festival runs from late July through August and premieres works by four composers, offers opera performances for kids, produces first-class drama from Beckett and Shakespeare, and has a full schedule of inspiring music from philharmonic and chamber orchestras.

Austria’s biggest rock festival is Mitteleurope’s answer to the UK’s Glastonbury – but without the mud – and attracts tens of thousands of music fans annually. Now 11 years old, it kicks off in Nickelsdorf, with three stages as well as a smart range of green accommodation and a mass of eating options from Michelin-starred dining to burgers and falafel. The line up includes around 40 star-studded international bands.