Salzburg, Austria

Although this weekend’s trip was a repeat visit for me (I had visited Salzburg three summers ago with my family), I was able to experience more of the local flavor of this town, and participate in an annual festival! Two friends and I ventured into Austria, and set out not only to see all the filming locations associated with the Sound of Music, but also to try and make some Austrian acquaintances, and see another side of the touristy, but still interesting town of Salzburg.

Upon our arrival to town, we found that there were several booths, tents, and stages set up all through old town, and were curious as to what was happening that weekend. Turns out, we picked the right time to visit, because we were able to not only see the noteworthy portions of the city (Nonnberg Abbey, Mirabell Gardens), but the weather was absolutely perfect, and the festival was in full swing the entire trip. This celebration was to acknowledge the county’s patron, Saint Rupert, in a festival called Rupertikirtag, and along with that came the Lederhosen (traditional leather or velour short and vest outfit) and dresses, as well as every size of pretzel you could imagine, numerous handicraft artisan vendors, too many bratwurst and pastry connoisseurs, and a new folk band that came in every hour playing songs throughout the day.

We were determined to make some conversation with locals, to find out about the festivities, and attempt to connect with the city from the perspective of a resident rather than a tourist. In our exploration of each of the booths, and after watching a marching band for a while, we approached a group of drum-wielding, trombone-toting band members and asked some questions of them. Turns out that the Rupertikirtag occurs each year, welcomes all the local village bands to perform, and everyone comes to Salzburg to celebrate and compete in various presentations ranging from polka dancing to musket demonstrations on the main stage. It’s the only other celebration besides Christmas that brings so many people to town.

That night for dinner, at the suggestion of our new friends, we decided to try some Austrian grub and scoot in next to the locals for a smoky, “oom-pah-pah” laced night under the Steigl Beer tent. I had an unbelievably moist half rotisserie chicken and fries, ordered after peeking at what everyone else in the tent was eating, and we had to make sure to wash it all down with the house brew, which, although we didn’t get the giant steins everyone else had, gave us a good taste of what living and passing the time in Salzburg is really like. All in all, I’d consider it a good cultural experience, and a great way to wrap up our time in town. We were able to strike up a couple of conversations, talk about what a typical weekend in Salzburg looks like, and also able to learn some German phrases. Perfect timing, though, for the festival falling on the weekend we visited.

folk dancing:
additional pictures are also updated.