What's on in Salzburg
Festivals, markets and the holidays that close the shops — researched in Lovecity, checked against official sources and ordered by date. Filter the year ahead and plan around the city's rhythm.
Every date ahead
30 events
July 20261
August 20262
Assumption Day (Mariä Himmelfahrt) in Austria
August 15 is a national public holiday across Austria honouring the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, with herb-bundle blessings (Kräuterweihe) in churches and a quiet midsummer day off.
SalzburgerLand Bauernherbst 2026
SalzburgerLand's harvest season brings folk music, village festivals, farm food and cattle drives to 77 communities from the official opening in Maria Alm on 22 August through 31 October 2026.
September 20263
Almabtrieb at Gruberalm, Hintersee 2026 (Cattle Drive)
A classic SalzburgerLand autumn tradition: at the Gruberalm above Hintersee, herders decorate the cattle with ornate flower-and-mirror headdresses and drive them down from the alpine pasture to the valley, with music, schnapps and farm stalls marking the end of the mountain summer.
Munich Oktoberfest 2026 (191st Wiesn)
The world's largest folk festival takes over Munich's Theresienwiese for over two weeks, with vast beer tents, traditional Bavarian dress, brass bands and a giant funfair. The 191st Oktoberfest runs from late September into early October.
Rupertikirtag
Salzburg's biggest folk fair honours the city's patron saint, St Rupert, each September, turning the squares of the Old Town into a lively mix of traditional rides, brass-band music, craft stalls and hearty Austrian food.
October 20262
Jazz & The City
For a few October days Salzburg becomes one big free festival of jazz, electronica and improvised music, with hundreds of concerts spread across bars, hotels, churches and squares throughout the Old Town.
Austrian National Day (Nationalfeiertag)
October 26 is Austria's National Day and a national public holiday, commemorating the constitutional law on permanent neutrality adopted on that date in 1955.
November 20267
All Saints' Day in Austria
November 1 is a national public holiday in Austria. Families visit and decorate graves with candles and chrysanthemums on All Saints' (and All Souls', Nov 2), filling cemeteries with light.
Hellbrunn Advent Magic 2026
Hellbrunn Palace turns its courtyard and water gardens into an illuminated Advent market with crafts, food, music and a children's programme from 19 November to 24 December 2026.
Salzburg Christmas Market (Christkindlmarkt)
One of the oldest Advent markets in the world fills Domplatz and Residenzplatz with wooden stalls, handcrafted gifts, Glühwein and roasted chestnuts beneath the cathedral, glowing through the run-up to Christmas.
Tollwood Winter Festival 2026 (Munich)
Munich's 'alternative Christmas market' fills the Theresienwiese with international street theatre, concerts, organic food and fair-trade crafts through Advent. A separately ticketed New Year's Eve party returns on 31 December.
Winterfest Salzburg 2026/27
International contemporary-circus companies fill illuminated big tops in Salzburg's Volksgarten from 25 November 2026 to 6 January 2027, with shows, readings, concerts and food.
80 Years of Salzburg Advent Singing
The Salzburg Advent Singing marks its 80th anniversary with 'The Great Secret', a staged oratorio of traditional songs, music and nativity theatre in the Großes Festspielhaus from 27 November to 13 December 2026.
Salzburg Krampus & Perchten Runs 2026/27
Each winter Salzburg's Old Town and surrounding villages host fearsome Krampus runs (around St Nicholas, Dec 5–6) and, later, Perchten runs that drive out winter's spirits. Costumed, bell-clad demons parade through the streets in one of the Alps' most striking living traditions.
December 20263
Immaculate Conception (Mariä Empfängnis) in Austria
December 8 is a national public holiday in Austria. Despite being a day off, shops in city centres are permitted to open, making it one of the busiest Christmas-shopping days of the year, with the Salzburg Advent markets in full swing.
Silent Night Celebration (Stille Nacht) in Oberndorf 2026
Every Christmas Eve at 5 pm, thousands gather at the Silent Night Chapel in Oberndorf near Salzburg — where the carol premiered in 1818 — for a candlelit memorial service that ends with 'Stille Nacht' sung in its original two-voice-and-guitar version, then in dozens of languages.
Austrian Christmas (Christmas Day & St Stephen's Day)
December 25 and 26 are national public holidays in Austria. Gifts are exchanged on Christmas Eve (Dec 24, a normal but early-closing day), with the two following days reserved for quiet family celebrations.
January 20273
New Year's Day in Austria
January 1 is a national public holiday across Austria. Salzburg's main Dom- and Residenzplatz Christmas market publishes reduced hours for its final day, while most shops remain closed.
Epiphany (Heilige Drei Könige) in Austria
January 6 is a national public holiday in Austria marking the Three Kings. Children dressed as the Magi (Sternsinger) go house to house blessing homes and collecting for charity, and it traditionally closes the Christmas season.
Mozart Week (Mozartwoche)
Held around Mozart's birthday each January, this prestigious festival brings leading orchestras, conductors and soloists to Salzburg for an intensive celebration of the city's most famous son and his contemporaries.
March 20274
Rauriser Literaturtage 2027 (56th edition)
One of Austria's most respected German-language literature festivals, the Rauriser Literaturtage fills the historic Mesnerhaus and Rauris valley in SalzburgerLand with readings, prize ceremonies, artist talks and literary walks each spring.
SALZ – Festival for Innovation & Technology 2027
SALZ is Salzburg's flagship innovation and technology festival, gathering companies, startups, researchers and investors at Messezentrum Salzburg for keynotes, panels, startup pitches and matchmaking around emerging tech and business trends.
Salzburg Easter Festival (Osterfestspiele)
Founded by Herbert von Karajan in 1967, this exclusive Easter festival presents opera and symphonic concerts of the highest calibre in the Großes Festspielhaus over the days around Easter.
Easter Monday in Austria
Easter Monday (Ostermontag) is a national public holiday in Austria, capping the Easter weekend. In Salzburg it is also the closing day of the confirmed 2027 Easter Festival.
May 20275
Labour Day (Staatsfeiertag) in Austria
May 1 is Austria's State Holiday and a national public holiday. Shops generally close, public transport follows holiday schedules, and many residents use the spring day for local outings.
Ascension Day in Austria
Ascension Day (Christi Himmelfahrt) on 6 May 2027 is a statutory public holiday across Austria. Shops generally close and public transport follows a holiday timetable.
Whit Monday in Austria
Whit Monday (Pfingstmontag) on 17 May 2027 is a statutory public holiday across Austria, closing most shops and completing the Pentecost long weekend.
Salzburg Marathon
Each spring thousands of runners take to a scenic course along the Salzach river and through the Baroque Old Town, with marathon, half-marathon, relay and shorter distances passing some of the city's best-known landmarks.
Corpus Christi in Austria
Corpus Christi (Fronleichnam) on 27 May 2027 is a statutory public holiday across Austria. Catholic processions may affect streets locally, while most shops close.