Salzburg Events Calendar
The next confirmed and expected dates on the Salzburg calendar — always verify with the organizer before you book. For the year-round overview, see the events hub.
September 20264
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.
St Rupert's Day (Regional Holiday, Salzburg)
September 24 is a regional public holiday in the federal state of Salzburg only, honouring St Rupert, the city's founder and patron saint. It coincides with the large Rupertikirtag folk fair around the cathedral.
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, marking the 1955 law declaring permanent neutrality. Museums offer free entry, the army stages public displays, and it is a national public holiday.
November 20264
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.
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.
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.
Tollwood Winter Festival 2026 (Munich)
Munich's 'alternative Christmas market' fills the Theresienwiese with international street theatre, world-music concerts, organic food and fair-trade crafts in big heated marquees through Advent, ending with a big New Year's Eve party.
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.
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.
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.
January 20273
New Year's Day in Austria
January 1 is a national public holiday across Austria. In Salzburg the new year is rung in by the famous Vienna-broadcast New Year's Concert tradition, fireworks over the fortress, and the lingering Christmas markets.
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. Salzburg's Easter markets, painted-egg traditions and the prestigious Easter Festival (Osterfestspiele) cluster around this period.
May 20273
Labour Day (Staatsfeiertag) in Austria
May 1 is Austria's State Holiday and International Workers' Day, a national public holiday marked by union marches and spring maypole (Maibaum) celebrations in towns and villages.
Ascension, Whit Monday & Corpus Christi in Austria
Three Catholic public holidays fall in May–June across Austria: Ascension Day, Whit Monday (Pentecost Monday) and Corpus Christi. Each is a non-working day and frequently bridged into long weekends, with Corpus Christi famous for lake and street processions in the Salzkammergut.
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.