"Wienwoche" will now only take place every two years

The office of City Councillor for Culture Veronica Kaup-Hasler (SPÖ) confirmed to the APA a release from the sponsoring association of "Wienwoche", in which the postponement of the upcoming festival edition "due to a significant reduction in our MA7 funding" was announced. The City of Vienna speaks of a "necessary response to the current budgetary pressure to save".

In the future, the festival will receive biennial funding of 500,000 euros, compared to the previous 480,000 euros per year. The year 2026 is planned as a transition year, serving the content and structural reorientation of the festival and will be subsidized with 250,000 euros, according to information from the City of Vienna's Department of Culture and Science. "The 'Wienwoche' makes an important contribution to Vienna's cultural landscape with its diverse and artistically innovative program," Kaup-Hasler is quoted as saying. "It was very important to me that this festival continues. With the biennial format, a solution was developed that puts the festival on stable footing in the long term despite the very tight budgetary situation."

"Wienwoche": Festival sees difficult phase for independent scene

The Association for the Promotion of Urban Use is now extending the call for proposals for the edition originally planned for next year on the theme "Age of Decay (Echo)". Applicants can still submit their projects, but these will only be shown in the year after next, and not as originally planned between September 11 to 20, 2026: "Due to these profound changes," the application deadline has now been extended to mid-January 2026.

Nevertheless, they are "determined not to back down. We see the current changes and the resulting decisions as essential for the continuation of WIENWOCHE, our values, and our history. This is part of a broader effort to strengthen the independent scene in this difficult political and financial situation," it says. They want "to ensure that 2026 becomes a meaningful, productive year that paves the way for a strong and ambitious festival edition in 2027," it says, among other things, in the name of the newly appointed artistic director of the festival, Tonica Hunter, who was appointed in October.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.