Everything you need to do this week & weekend in Vienna

This is Vienna’s 2nd largest film festival that comes with plenty of powerful messages in powerful films that will have you thinking about the big wide world.

This Human World plays various documentaries and fictional feature films, short films, animations, and experimental films, all revolving around the theme of human rights issues.

This festival puts into the spotlight the films that aim to encourage people to scrutinize and re-examine their views and raise awareness about the situations where human rights are being violated. Don’t keep going on about how the world’s turning to shit on your IG feed – get educated at this fascinating festival.

Bring that beautiful voice of yours to Villa Vida Café this Wednesday for a full-on Queer Karaoke night! You can take the stage by storm and let out that voice you’ve perfected in countless shower concerts – ‘Weee are familyyyy! I got aaaall my sisters with meeee!’.

The Heeresgeschichtliches Museum Wien (Military Museum) is playing host to one of the coolest Christmas markets happening in Vienna. A 4-day medieval-themed Christmas market stands far apart from the other markets in this list. There are little stalls selling metalwork and woodwork creations made by the stand owners (who tend to really take the Medieval thing seriously, dressing up like they’ve just landed in 2024 from that era), while there are all kinds of live music, jugglers and jesters, market criers, fencing duals and other shows to entertain the crowds. Then there’s the food inspired from Medieval times being prepared and served up. Another distinguishing factor is the delicious winter Punsch, Glühwein (mulled wine) and other hot drinks to warm you up, that are made fresh by the stand owners, as opposed to being mass produced like the Punsch at many of the other markets. 

The Büroschluss party is back again this month! Grab your colleagues and head to O – der Klub for some after-work drinks. There’s potential for networking, dancing, eating, and flirting there.

The Aera invites you to their monthly poetry slam (this time it’s happening on Thursday). The poets invited to perform will be sharing the stage with anyone brave enough to participate or who has something to say. The event might be called a ‘normal’ poetry slam, but, let’s be honest, there is no such thing as a normal poetry slam.

What’s more Christmassy than a Christmas tram? Nothing! So, here’s your chance to ride a vintage Christmas tram and enjoy all kinds of jolly holiday fun at the Advent Market in the Remise Transport Museum. Every Friday to Sunday, from 2 to 9 p.m., you can explore a cozy Christmas village nestled among the historic tram depot buildings. There’ll be snacks, hot drinks, workshops, and plenty of shopping opportunities, of course.

Are you good with confronting people? Yeah, we aren’t either.

So, one thing you could do is try a 2,5 day playfight workshop. The organisers promise emotional awareness and conscious connection through playful, respectful physical interaction. If you go, let us know how it went. Oh, and the event is in English!

The Loft will be throwing it back this Saturday to a time before Spotify existed. Talk about a time warp! Get your best oversized jeans and crop tops ready!

Oh! And this time it’s the SINGLE PARTY! You’ll get a light-up bracelet at the entrance to show your status: red for ‘hands off,’  yellow for ‘we’ll see,’ green for ‘ready to mingle,’ and now, by popular demand, an additional blue bracelet for LGBTQIA+ folks.

This is gonna be everything you’d expect from a Super Disco Party at O – der Klub and then some: 90s hits, Tech House, Techno, Hip Hop, Urban Beats – you name it, they got it!

If there’s one thing you can count on, it’s us bringing you unique and wonderful Christmas markets—and this is definitely one of them! The Cosima Christmas Advent Market features exclusively female exhibitors. Come for the cozy atmosphere and check out those unapologetically girly pieces with embroidery and bows.

For those of you folks from the US who might be missing out on a Thanksgiving feast in November, or for anyone else who’s just curious about what gravy tastes like, Café Caspar in the first district has a special treat in store. Expect a laid-back, family-style Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and all the classic sides. And there’ll be drinks, conversation starters on the tables, and even a ‘Thankfulness Board’ (yeah, we’re intreguied too!).

You can certainly expect some excessiveness at this party (who would’ve guessed after reading that headline?). It’s going down at Grelle Forelle on this Saturday. It will probably be as raunchy as you would expect from something with that kind of name.

Supermarkt is back with the holiday edition! Find some vintage and pre-loved treasures, eat some food, and meet new people at this second-hand market this Sunday. This time there’ll be mulled wine and gingerbread.

Marching in ghoulish fashion at the beginning of December are the Perchten. They wear hand-carved scary masks, shaggy fur, and heavy bells to scare away winter.

These creatures are usually a pretty frightful sight, but this Sunday, you can brave a ‘family-friendly’ Perchten parade at Prater.

The contemporary music festival, Wien Modern, will be inviting you all again to a series of exciting cultural encounters. Basically it’s all about contemporary arts and music. Let us tell you, it’s cutting edge stuff! Check out the full programme for more details.

Tis’ the season, and in Vienna this many people’s favourite season simply thanks to those charming Christmas markets! A wonderful vibe spreads around town as markets bloom all over Vienna, and the smell of cinnamon, mulled wine, and sweet desserts fill the air. Be sure to get some Beeren Punsch in, get in the spirit, and enjoy every chance this season to get drunk at the market. If you need a cheat-sheet check the list of our favourite Christmas markets. 

And just in case, here’s a reminder of this year’s Christmas market dates in Vienna:

Schönbrunn Christmas Market: November 8, 2024 – January 6, 2025.
Rathausplatz Christkindlmarkt: November 15 – December 26, 2024.
Spittelberg Christmas Market: November 16 – December 23, 2024.
Winter Market at the Prater: November 16, 2024 – January 6, 2025.
Am Hof Christmas Market: November 15 – December 23, 2024.
Altwiener Christkindlmarkt: November 15 – December 23, 2024.
Weihnachtsdorf Schloss Belvedere: November 15 – December 26, 2024.
Weihnachtsdorf Stephansplatz: November 8 – December 24, 2024.
Adventmarkt am Karlsplatz: November 15 – December 23, 2024.
Weihnachtsdorf Altes AKH: November 15 – December 23, 2024.
Winter im MuseumsQuartier: November 14 – December 23, 2024.
Haas & Haas Winter in the City: November 8 – December 31, 2024.

Hear us out! It’s never too early to plan, especially since tickets for these glamorous events sell out so quickly. So, check out the 2025 Vienna ball season dates and make sure to fulfil your Viennese fairytale fantasy at least once at the beginning of next year:

January 10, 2025: Steirerball (Styrians’ Ball) at the Hofburg palace
January 10, 2025: Maskenball Violette Redoute (Masquerade ball) at Palais Ferstel
January 11, 2025: Tirolerball (Tyroleans’ Ball) at the Vienna City Hall
January 16, 2025: Zuckerbäckerball (Confectioners’ Ball) at the Vienna Hofburg palace
January 17, 2025: Blumenball der Wiener Stadtgärten (Flower Ball) at the Vienna City Hall
January 24, 2025: Ball der Wiener Wirtschaft (Viennese Economy Ball) at the Hofburg palace
January 25, 2025: Ball der Wissenschaften (Ball of Sciences) at the Vienna City Hall
January 24, 2025: Wiener Vegan Ball at Hilton Vienna Park
January 25, 2025: Regenbogenball (Rainbow Ball) at Austria Trend Parkhotel Schönbrunn
February 21, 2025: Ball der Wiener Kaffeesieder (Coffee Brewers’ Ball) at the Hofburg palace
February 27, 2025: Wiener Opernball (Vienna Opera Ball) at the Vienna State Opera

With so many culture events taking place – be it exhibitions in museums, powerful plays on theatre stages, art shows that scratch that inspiration itch – getting your daily dose of culture in Vienna is easy-peasy. That is, if you have our awesome art and culture guide, which tells you all about the best events happening in Vienna right NOW (or soon-ish). If you think we’re missing any important ongoing culture events, drop us a message Instagram, or the good old, oldschool way, via mail.