What's on in Linz, Austria through the year

Busy — Christmas holidays in Austria, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Ball season (Fasching)

  5 Jan – 20 Feb · usuallyCarnival

  From early January until Shrove Tuesday the city's calendar fills with balls: charity and society balls, trade and school-leavers' balls, and masked Fasching parties. Many are ticketed and open to anyone willing to dress for it. Source ↗

Busy — Semester (winter) holidays in Austria, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Ball season (Fasching) (5 Jan – 20 Feb (usually))

Busy — Easter holidays in Austria, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Easter

  4–6 AprCrowdedClosures

  Easter Monday is a public holiday and shops stay closed on Easter Sunday too, so it is a long weekend. Austrians and neighbouring Germans travel, filling hotels at higher rates, and many shops close on both days. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Easter, Easter holidays in Austria

• Festival

  Crossing Europe film festival

  20 Apr – 2 May · usually

  Six days of European independent cinema at the end of April, the kind of programme that never reaches a multiplex. It is the first thing on the calendar after a long grey Danube winter. Source ↗

Still on: Easter (4–6 Apr)

Busy — Pentecost (Whitsun) holidays in Austria, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Crossing Europe film festival (20 Apr – 2 May (usually))

Busy — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

• Festival

  Musikpavillon in the Donaupark

  17 Jun – 16 AugMusic festival

  All summer the city runs free open-air evenings in a pavilion on the Danube bank between the Lentos and the Brucknerhaus: local bands, songwriters, literature and cross-over projects. Easy to drop into after a riverside walk. Source ↗

Peak crowds — travelers describe it as peak season, Pflasterspektakel street festival

• Festival

  Pflasterspektakel street festival

  15–31 Jul · usuallyArts festivalCrowded

  Several hundred street performers take over the old town for three July days, free and shoulder to shoulder. Book a bed before you decide to go, because the city sells out for it. Source ↗

Still on: Musikpavillon in the Donaupark (17 Jun – 16 Aug)

Busy — Summer holidays in Austria, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Musikpavillon in the Donaupark (17 Jun – 16 Aug)

Peak crowds — Ars Electronica Festival, Summer holidays in Austria

• Festival

  Ars Electronica Festival

  9–13 SepArts festivalCrowdedBook early

  Five September days of digital art spread through the postal depot, the university and the riverside, with the Klangwolke sound-and-light night in the Donaupark alongside it. This is what Linz is known for now. Source ↗

• Festival

  Bruckner Festival

  10 Sep – 10 Oct · usuallyMusic festival

  A month of orchestral concerts from September into October in the composer's own city, using the glass concert hall on the Danube. Quieter and easier to get into than the digital-art week that overlaps it. Source ↗

Busy — Autumn holidays in Austria, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Bruckner Festival (10 Sep – 10 Oct (usually))

Busy — Christmas markets, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Christmas markets

  20 Nov – 24 Dec · usuallyChristmas & New YearCrowded

  Stalls on the Hauptplatz and in the Volksgarten from late November, small enough to walk both in an evening. The Danube fog that sits over the city in December is part of the experience. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Christmas markets, Christmas holidays in Austria

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Christmas markets (20 Nov – 24 Dec (usually))