September the 5th until the 7th there was Europe’s largest free open air party at the Danube Island in Vienna. About 2,000 artists and up to three million visitors were expected to be there – including us!

It’s the biggest music event I’ve ever attended. There were stages everywhere with different bands playing and artists singing. They were great even though totally unknown to us, but not to all the others judging by the screaming.

The Danube Island (Donauinsel in German) where it was held, is a 21.1 km long and narrow island along the Danube river.

With it’s 70-210 meters width, I’ll say that it’s perfect for these kind of venues. Keeping all the festivities away from the city homes, not disturbing them too much, because the music – and the crowd – was loud!

“To most visitors, the island is known as a recreational area with bars, restaurants and nightclubs, a wealth of sports opportunities from rollerblading, cycling and swimming to canoeing and one beach that in its beginning felt so exotic that it was soon nicknamed the “Copa Cagrana” (a humoristic allusion to Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana: Kagran is the part of the 22nd District of Vienna next to that one beach). In the southern and northern parts of the island there are extensive (and free) nude beaches”.

Source: Wikipedia

There were lots and lots of food and drinks stalls, which made me wish that we hadn’t eaten already before going there. There were food from other countries too.

Most of the others seemed to have gone from eating to more drinking and it was really one big party going on all over the island. Totally incredible how big the festival area is and how much we walked and walked.

We were only there in the evening and it was dark, so we couldn’t see much of the surroundings plus it was so crowded that you had to walk in line at some parts.

It don’t show in the photos how crowded it was, because I had to put the camera in it’s bag to protect it from being damaged when walking along the most crowded parts.

That’s also the reason why I haven’t got more or better photos to show you…. or was it the drinks perhaps….?

Not ALL of that big glasses though! *giggles*

It’s quite obvious that this a very popular music festival and we really could understand why. Though I don’t recommend staying there too late in the night even if there were lots of police’s.

The most surprising this night besides how big this festival area is, was the indians we saw playing, singing and dancing there. We didn’t expect that.

Both Mr Lifecruiser and me found them fascinating even though it’s not Austria’s natives.

I have no idea what kind of indians they are, so if you know, please leave a comment to tell us.

If you want to see them dancing too, see my video Danube Island Festival Indians Part 2.

We were leaving some time after midnight and we had to walk across the bridge plus some more to get to the public transportation. Luckily, without knowing it in advance, we did catch the last train home.

My back and my feet were aching, but the lights of the city were totally worth seeing from the island. I don’t know about you, but for me it’s a treat.

Even if you’re not going there in the festival time, I highly recommend a visit to the island. It’s such a wonderful recreation area.

I wouldn’t mind exploring the beaches and some more of the bars and restaurants myself – even during daytime.

Have a look at the Donauinselfest Portal, where you also can find a video from 2006 to get a grip of what it’s all about.

See all Lifecruiser Danube Island Festival Photos (17).

The Donauinselfest 2009 is the 26th – 28th June if you’re tempted to make it a visit.

Lifecruiser ♥ Vienna