Donauinselfest

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The Donauinselfest (German for Danube Island Festival) is a festival which takes place annually on the Donauinsel in Vienna, Austria. The event is usally on a weekend at the end of June.

Harry Kopietz, a SPÖ politician, began the first such gathering, a small party near the Floridsdorferbrücke in 1983. It was organised, and turned into an official city event in 1984.

The three day festival now averages around three million visitors. It is currently the largest music festival in Europe with no cover charge. There are roughly 1,400 volunteer assistants.

Throughout the island, there are around 27 stages, many of which are sponsored by local radio stations, such as FM4. Musicians of various genres perform (The 2006 performer list includes: Juli, Silbermond, Christina Stürmer, Fettes Brot, and Tocotronic). There are also numerous information booths and food and souvenir kiosks. One of the highlights of the festival is the firework display.

One of the most notable events was Falco's concert in the early 1990s; there were roughly 230,000 people in the audience. The weather was so bad at the event that part of the stage flooded, which then cut the power.

[edit] See also

List of radio stations in Austria

[edit] External links

http://www.donauinselfest.at/ (Official site)