"Happy New Year"

New Year's Eve in Vienna

This is for sure: At midnight you will hear famous Pummerin (St. Stephen’s Cathedral) strike! Apart from that, everything can happen during the biggest celebration of the year. You can opt for an open-air party inclusive last minute waltz course all over Vienna’s first district (‘Silvesterpfad’), escape three-four time at various clubs (i.e. WUK, Passage, Flex,…) or celebrate in one of the many pubs at the ‘Gürtel’ (B72, rhiz, Chelsea,…) or at Bermuda triangle (i.e. krah krah, Bermudabräu, Brennerei,…).Just before midnight you can watch the official fireworks, which are supported by considerable private efforts, illuminate the city!You can also start this year’s ball season with a banger, famous ‘Kaiserball’. At the magnificent halls of the ‘Hofburg’ you first enjoy a splendid dinner and then mark the beginning of the new year in three-four time.You mustn’t miss famous ‘Neujahrskonzert’ the day after which is performed by the Viennese Philharmonic Orchestra and is broadcast on TV.

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New Year's Concert - Neujahrskonzert
This concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, known for playing "serious" music, is dedicated to the Strauss family and the Waltz. Since 1939 this annual welcome to the new year has been staged in traditional Musikverein building. It is broadcast live on TV and a very popular international event. It has managed to become part of Austrian tradition, its tickets being sold out for years and its TV broadcast being one of the most successful Austrian shows.

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Georges Prêtre becomes the first French conductor to lead the traditional New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna on January 1, 2008. Prêtre's ties to Vienna and the Vienna Philharmonic go back to 1962, when the State Opera Director at the time, Herbert von Karajan, invited Prêtre to conduct several performances of Richard Strauss' opera "Capriccio". Only a year later, he made his debut in the Philharmonic subscription concert series when he stepped in for the indisposed Hans Knappertsbusch. This year the Austrian Broadcasting Co. will televise the New Year's Concert, one of classical music's major annual events, for the fiftieth time.