Club Culture & Traditions

Austria is a country of clubs. There are over 120,000 registered clubs — with only 9 million inhabitants. Whether it's the volunteer fire brigade (which forms the social backbone in rural communities), music band, shooting club, traditional costume group, or sports club — club life is the glue of the community, especially in the countryside.

Traditions are maintained in Austria with an intensity that surprises outsiders. It is not a folkloristic museum, but living culture:

• Carnival and Perchten runs — in the Alpine region, fearsome figures with wooden masks and bells drive out evil spirits at the winter solstice. The Krampus runs on December 5th (the eve of St. Nicholas Day) are not for the faint-hearted
• Maypole raising — on May 1st, a decorated tree is erected in the village center (and stolen by the neighboring village if you're not careful)
• Almauftrieb and Almabtrieb — in spring, cows are driven to the alpine pastures, in autumn they return adorned. A festival for the whole community
• Harvest festival — magnificent harvest crowns and parades in autumn
• Christmas markets — from late November to Christmas, town squares transform into fragrant markets with punch, gingerbread, and handicrafts. Vienna alone has over 20 Christmas markets

The traditional costume — Dirndl and lederhosen — is not a costume in Austria, but everyday clothing. At weddings, church services, at the folk festival, and increasingly in upscale restaurants, Austrians naturally wear traditional costume. A good Dirndl costs several hundred euros and is passed down through generations. Important: The bow of the apron reveals the relationship status — tied on the right means taken, on the left single.

The ball is a deeply Austrian institution. Vienna has over 450 balls per season (January to Carnival) — from the Opera Ball (the social highlight) to the Philharmonic Ball to the Confectioners' Ball. The debutantes in white, the left waltz, the fan language — a living piece of K.u.K. culture.