Bread and games: Why Wels wants to establish itself as an event capital

In 2023, the city center of Wels experienced an all-time high and this year the frequency development is also satisfactory – although May and June could push the annual forecast for this year down due to the weather. During this time, it rained for weeks.

What the political rivals of Mayor Andreas Rabl (FP) sometimes disparagingly refer to as “bread and games” has developed into a successful model for the city center. Whether the residents of Wels city center like it or not: the former shopping city has become an event city.

There is no doubt that retail is and will remain a mainstay of the economy in the Wels city centre. However, structural change in the textile industry and online retail are putting pressure on many of the owner-managed businesses.

For this reason, Wels changed course years ago. Since then, Wels Marketing Director Peter Jungreithmair and his team have been staging an event culture of the highest quality with generous political support. This also includes gastronomy: “15 years ago, the town square was empty. Look at it now,” says Jungreithmair, referring to the lively local scene on what is perhaps the most beautiful main square in Upper Austria.

Innkeepers on the rise

While up until then the restaurateurs were harassed by city officials to ensure that no chair extended beyond the precisely defined border of the beer garden, the landlords have now conquered half the space and with them their guests.

Kaffeothek, Café Hoffmann, the trendy establishments MOJO and Marlon, and the newcomer Sorry Mama form the gastronomic heart of the town square. On hot days, a long line of people forms in front of the Coccinella ice cream parlor.

See and be seen is also the motto in Schmidtgasse. On Saturday mornings, the crowds push through the narrow alley, where Mika on the corner of Freiung and Café Urbann halfway to Ringstrasse attract visitors like a magnet. Springer Delikatessen and Taste of Istria have been added since last year and this year.

The city center only really becomes suitable for the masses when there are big events. The Wels City Festival, after a successful relaunch, and the Wels Music Festival, which took place last weekend and attracted 80,000 visitors over two days, convey the character of a folk festival. The public viewing during the European Football Championship on the city square and Minoritenplatz generated noise and emotion. The Wels City Center Criterium next Wednesday, the City Beach until August 21st and the Wels Film Festival until the beginning of September are still not giving the city center a break.

Sometimes so much fuss pushes the boundaries of taste. Last year, City Councillor for Economic Affairs Martin Oberndorfer (VP) warned against too much spectacle because it would drive away potential customers. The mayor countered with a bitter rebuke. Rabl believes that anyone who takes a critical look at strategies to revitalise the city centre is blasphemous.

True to the motto that numbers never lie

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