Image: (APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH)
Artists such as Michael Patrick Kelly, Silbermond, The BossHoss, Bonnie Tyler and RAF Camora can be seen on the 13 stages. With the festival you want to “make curious and allow encounters”, emphasized SPÖ state party secretary Barbara Novak at the program presentation on Thursday.
Diversity and new tones
The site of the largest open-air festival in Europe, which can be visited with free admission, stretches over four and a half kilometers. In terms of content, they want to offer something for everyone, from the always extensive range of music to various leisure and sports activities and gastronomic delicacies. Various newcomers are not neglected. “New sounds, that’s also the island festival. We have preserved this diversity together for 40 years,” Novak underlined the emphatically colorful orientation of the event organized by the Vienna SPÖ. On three days they want to “live quality of life together”.
From rap to nostalgia
The heart of the festival is the large festival stage, which offers a different orientation every day thanks to the curating by FM4, Radio Wien and Ö3: On Friday, rap sounds are the focus here, when in addition to the local chart topper and fan favorite RAF Camora, for example, his German colleague Greeen zum use comes.
The next day, there’s a country and rockabilly nod from The BossHoss, while ’80s fans get their money’s worth at Bonnie Tyler’s. Julian Le Play and Alle Warning contribute local songs. At the end on Sunday, Michael Patrick Kelly’s performance probably brings back nostalgic memories of the legendary Kelly Family concert on the Danube Island, which mobilized the masses in 1995 and attracted around 200,000 visitors.
Classics on the Schlager stage
Jazz Gitti, who will climb the pop stage on Friday, can look forward to her sixth appearance at the major event. They are followed over the next few days by eternal classics such as Insieme, Münchener Freiheit or the Spider Murphy Gang. On Fridays, the ORF III Kulturzeit has its finger on the pulse, where the currently popular K-Pop can unfold in various facets.
Literature and humor are then on the program on Saturday and Sunday, for which Julya Rabinowich, Angelika Niedetzky, Vea Kaiser and Christoph Fritz are responsible, among others. Hundreds of rock fans will gather again on Sunday for the “Rocktogether” campaign on radio station 88.6, where the Metallica song “Enter Sandman” will be performed together. In addition, a design market is intended to lure people to the island on Friday, while various obstacle courses await them on the Action & Fun island.
Collection for social center
As a charity partner, the Donauinselfest, which this year has the motto #momentewiedies, collects for the Cape 10 non-profit foundation, which also operates the social and health center of the same name in Vienna. “We are a contact point for many people who are in need. Everyone is welcome here,” explained CEO Siegfried Meryn. On the one hand, the cup deposit for Cape 10 can be donated, but merchandise items are also offered.
As extensive as the anniversary program is, the Danube Island Festival also has to struggle with the rising prices. This can be felt from energy to the logistics partners, Novak explained when asked. “But the Corona period has also left its mark on the event industry.” This was offset not least by an increase in funding from the city, which comes up with around 2 million euros for 35 percent of the total budget. The rest is done with sponsors and partners.
Source: Nachrichten
