An initial assessment

220,000 visitors at the Capital of Culture

Elisabeth Schweeger, Artistic Director of the Capital of Culture Bad Ischl , and Manuela Reichert, Commercial Director.

(Bild: Veronika Scharinger)

A spectacle for 5,000 visitors heralded the start of the 2024 Capital of Culture year in Bad Ischl (Upper Austria) at the end of January. One part of it - the nude performance "Pudertanz" - reached the whole of Austria and more: a scandal and at the same time one of the highlights of the first six months, which was a success overall. Director Schweeger formulates a new word for the people of the Salzkammergut.

The nude performance "Pudertanz" caused a scandal at the beginning. But it didn't do any harm, as it attracted widespread attention.

Now the balance sheet after the first six months: over 220,000 people have so far attended events of the European Capital of Culture Bad Ischl Salzkammergut, which take place in 23 communities in Styria and Upper Austria.

As of June 30, around 130 projects presented in the program book have been implemented. "It is pleasing that all of our own performative events with admission to date have been sold out and all of the exhibitions that have already opened have also got off to a very good start," says Commercial Director Manuela Reichert.

The budget has also been increased and currently stands at 30.8 million euros (previously 30 million). 

"There is a new word: the 'Salzkammergütler'!"

Elisabeth Schweeger, Intendantin

New word for the people of the Salzkammergut
Director Elisabeth Schweeger, on the other hand, revels in the success for the region, which she sums up as follows: "There is a new word: the 'Salzkammergütler'!" This means that "there is much more exchange, there is networking within the region and also outside it."

Looted art attracts the most
The exhibitions "Sudhaus - Art with Salt and Water" and the exhibition trilogy "The Journey of Images" in Linz, Lauffen and Bad Aussee about Nazi-looted art stored in tunnels have attracted the most visitors so far, with 13,715 and 30,000 respectively. Other well-received events included "Simon Schwarz - Hidden in the Rock" in Altausee and the Wirtshauslabor with 2950 guests.

Among the concerts, Bruckner's Salt in Ebensee with 2485 visitors and "Urlicht Primal Light" in Bad Ischl with 1748 visitors were at the top of the list.

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Crank for the low season
The number of arrivals and overnight stays in the pre-season was also very positive. In the banner city of Bad Ischl, there was a 36% increase in arrivals and a 21% increase in overnight stays.

The entire Capital of Culture region achieved an increase of 8% in arrivals and just under 5% in overnight stays. Capital of Culture "neighbor" St. Wolfgang increased overnight stays by 25%.

However, it remains to be seen whether this Capital of Culture will match the records set by Linz09: back then, almost 3.5 million people visited more than 7,700 events, exhibitions, festivals, activities and projects organized by Linz09 in one year.