Culturally rich Vienna beckons Indian tourists

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18 Mar 2015, 03:17 pm

New Delhi, Mar 18 (NITN) Vienna located in the heart of Europe, is all set to host the 60th Eurovision Song Contest titled Building Bridges from May 19 to 23.

Resonating with culture and imperial history, the aristocratic Austrian capital is the perfect backdrop for this glorious event.

As an international centre of culture, music and the arts, Vienna hosts over 450 balls annually. Though these balls are legendary, they manage to connect with GenNext as the three-quarter rhythm is supplemented by contemporary sounds. Home to legends like Mozart, Beethoven and Strauss, music is the soul of Vienna.

Every night around 10,000 music fans are treated to live classical music. Vienna has a very vibrant proactive concert scene, as its concert schedule carries the promise of over 15,000 events in various sizes and genres.

Eurovision Village at the Rathausplatz

Rathausplatz on the Ringstrasse has established itself as an ideal place to host memorable events like The Vienna Ice World, Life Ball, Music Film Festival and Magic of Advent in Vienna.

This time, Rathausplatz will sport a different flavour. The official fan mile of the Eurovision Song Contest will be at Rathausplatz from May 17 to 23. The entire Eurovision Village at Rathausplatz will come alive with activity. The center of the Eurovision Village will double up as a platform for cultural activities to unfold. A large stage with a huge screen will be set up for participants of the Song Contest to showcase their talent through live music.

Needless to say, many of these events will be positioned as public viewing programs. The evenings will be planned with thematic activities keeping in mind the tastes of the family crowd.

The semi-finals (May 19 and 21, 2015) of the Eurovision Song Contest and the grand final (May 23, 2015) will take place at the Wiener Stadthalle. The music scene packs in quite a punch. Austria’s Conchita Wurst whose song ‘Rise Like A Phoenix’ won the international music competition in Copenhagen in 2014 Eurovision will offer music lovers a live performance.

While the musical notes will continue to serenade fans, Vienna will also showcase some of the best fashion labels through a fashion show titled Fashion for Europe on May 18. Austria is being appropriately represented by fashion designer Lena Hoschek.

Let’s not forget that Vienna ranks among the world's safest cities and is a very liveable city. It has several interesting dimensions. Viennese cuisine, the only cuisine in the world that draws its identity from the city of its origin, blends the essence of several cuisines from Bohemia, Austria, Hungary, Italy and the Balkans. Of course, there’s a fine representation of Indian cuisine as Vienna is home to several Indian restaurants.

Besides signature dishes like apple strudel, specialty cakes such as the Sacher cake (chocolate cake with apricot jam and chocolate glaze) and Gugelhupf (bundt cake) are legends in their own right.

The colour green is a perfect way to describe Vienna. The city is dotted with parks. During spring, 400 kinds of roses blossom in the Volksgarten alone. Vienna has 850 parks (280 of them Imperial) and 1,730 acres of vineyards.

“Vienna is emerging as a destination of choice for travellers from India. Vienna is a very livable and "smart" city with a perfect mix of imperial history and contemporary places. The city combines northern European efficiency with southern European lifestyle,” says Isabella Rauter, Deputy Director of Market and Media Management, Vienna Tourist Board that is looking forward to Indian travellers spending over 100,000 overnight stays in the city in 2017.

The Austro-Hungarian monarchy has contributed to Vienna’s multi-cultural ethos. So it’s not difficult to imagine that Vienna is home to around 570,000 people of foreign origin who hail from 198 nations in the world. Its cosmopolitan outlook is demonstrated by the fact that nearly half (about 49 percent) of the capital’s population has an immigrant background.

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