How Vienna Reinvented Itself for Its Campiest Spectacle Yet, Eurovision 2026

This is how a city synonymous with elegance and classical melodies adapts to host the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.Getty ImagesOn a May evening last year, in a kaleidoscopic display at Basel’s St. Jakobshalle Arena, Viennese singer-songwriter JJ stormed to victory at the Eurovision Song Contest in front of a global audience of 166 million. Flanked by a production inspired by a sailing boat navigating a stormy ocean, JJ documented his experiences with unrequited affections through Wasted Love’s ethereal falsettos and melismatic operatic lines, culminating in a stroboscopic crescendo.Austrian singer JJ representing Austria with the song Wasted Love at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 Getty ImagesThen the announcement: “Austria. From the audience, you have received… 178 points.” Jumps, screams, and floods of tears followed from JJ, his team, and the audience. As the singer took to the stage to perform, it quickly dawned on cheering Austrians watching on screens across the country that it would soon be their turn to host. And, just like that, a country more synonymous with Haydn and Mozart than with hyperpop and commercial melodies began to ready itself to throw its campiest spectacle to date.Eurovision 2026 isn’t Austria’s first dalliance with music’s campiest spectacle. Vienna’s Großer Festsaal der Wiener Hofburg hosted the 1967 contest following Udo Jürgens’s success at the previous year’s event with Merci, Chérie, while Conchita Wurst’s Rise Like a Phoenix brought the action back to the city for the 2015 edition. Eleven years on, the city readies itself to show the world what it’s made of once again—but how does a city renowned for world-class, high-brow cultural institutions adapt from waltz to pop?Rainbow walkway in the city Julius HirtzbergerThe Eurovision experience begins within minutes of touching down at Vienna International Airport. I pause my headphones just in time to hear the pilot acknowledge the competition in German—cheers from ecstatic gaggles of pals come from the front of the plane.As the aphorism attributed to Austrian satirist Karl Kraus goes, “The streets of Vienna are paved with culture, the streets of other cities with asphalt.” What would Beethoven think of Romania’s 2026 entry, Choke Me, I wonder, as I pass the Theater an der Wien. Something tells me the composer might have vibed with Dara’s Bangaranga, though—the Bulgarian track flutters between melodic hooks and Arabian-esque dance breaks at neck-break speed.Playlist rolling on, I assume more of a strut to Antigoni’s Jalla (Cyprus’s entry, which, admittedly, has graced the Spotify playlist for weeks) and am transported to the superclub by the earth-shaking trance breaks of Felicia’s My System, Sweden's entry.Grand buildings, many museums and palaces, can be found at every turn in Vienna. Connor SturgesAs Vienna’s blessed with sunshine after a spout of exceptionally bad weather that forced the Eurovision Village at Rathausplatz to evacuate just days before, I take to the streets for another unique musical adventure. Exiting Hotel Motto, I’m confronted by an euphonious classical rendition of Francesco Sartori’s Con te partirò—the melody to Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman’s Time to Say Goodbye, also—from Mariahilfer Straße, one of the capital’s best-known shopping streets. I set off towards the Kunsthistorisches Museum, opened in 1891 by Emperor Franz Joseph I and now home to masterpieces by the brushstrokes of Titian, Rubens, and Pieter Bruegel.Sartori’s contemplative masterpiece rings in my ears before—a bin! A bright orange bin on Babenbergerstraße catches my eye. “Schmeiss Like a Phoenix,” it reads, honoring Conchita Wurst’s winning song from 2015, beside a logo of “Vienna, 12 points.” As I later realize, all of the dustbins in the areas surrounding the Eurovision action have had a vivid facelift. It’s working, if the pristine streets are anything to go by. Although this may be a result of Austrian values and respectful attendees, I can’t see lyrics from Katrina and the Waves’ 1997 winning entry, Love Shine a Light, on dustbins deterring Soho Square’s punters flinging their dogends into the night.Hotel Motto Connor SturgesA statue of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Burggarten Onwards to Burggarten, where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart bathes in the golden hour light cast across the majestic Hofburg palace’s grounds—peaceful, if it weren’t for a group of teens playing German rap. Close your ears, M! I leave the fashionable locals chatting away outside the Kew Garden-esque Brasserie Palmenhaus Wien after a pint of the local (purely research purposes) and set my eyes on solid sustenance. Opposite yet another grand palace, a window display dedicated to 70 years of Eurovision featuring banners and CDs. How nostalgic.A rainbow flag hangs from a window in Vienna Erli GrünzweilOne thing’s for sure—the Viennese are quite the hosts. “Viennese hospitality is defined by a refined balance of warmth,” is how Dirk-Jan Doek, general manager of Miiro Palais Rudolf and Miiro Spittelberg, puts it when I quiz him about the city’s preparations for the contest ahead of my arrival. “It’s discretion, authenticity, and… it feels truly genuine,” he says, before encouraging me to swing by once I’m settled and sharing his Vienna top tips. I make a mental note to incorporate sundowners at SKY Bar im STEFFL into the jam-packed Europop itinerary.It’s an authenticity Condé Nast Traveler’s contributor and Vienna aficionado, Rick Jordan, is familiar with. I ask if he’s familiar with Gemütlichkeit, a German word lacking a direct English translation (as per) that’s best described as a state of warmth, friendliness, coziness, and social belonging. “Yes, of course, it's the Austrian ‘hygge!’ I think Vienna in particular feels like a capital city, but always ‘local.’ Even in the center, with the museums and tourist attractions, there are small bier cellars and traditional restaurants where locals gather.”Screens showing the crowd action at the Eurovision Village Connor SturgesStage tests ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest Connor Sturges“‘Family run' is what I associate with Vienna,” Rick continues. “You get the modern side, of course—and Vienna is big on natural wines with hipster cafés, but 'tradition' is very strong here.” Rick mentions how he’d attended Eurovision the last time Vienna hosted in 2015. I ask what I can expect from such a spectacle. “It was like a big gay stag night had taken over the whole city,” he says, setting the bar at a mysterious height before recalling being dressed down by a French fan, who—hearing Rick was English—reprimanded him on his country's poor choice of entrant. Electric Velvet, 24th out of 27, if you’re wondering.Vienna City Hall (Wiener Rathaus) Christian StemperWhile Eurovision is adamant that its competition remain free from political influence, politics have once again become difficult to avoid this year amid protests and boycott calls over Israel’s participation. Still, the show goes on. On my first night in the city, I head to Vienna's City Hall Square, where a festival site dedicated to the competition has been set up for the week. Performers take to the stage ahead of the following night’s second semi-final, heavy metal flowing into Estonian rapper and singer Tommy Cash’s infectious rave-slash-rap.Window displays honor 70 years of Eurovision across the city's shopping streets. Connor SturgesThe green room of Wiener Stadthalle, where acts take their seats after performing On what makes Eurovision an extravaganza worth traveling for, there’s a general consensus. “It brings people together,” says Dom, who’s joined by an international crew after touching down from London. “There’s always a reason to travel to some new place next year.” Viennese officials may well hope that’s the case, at least, considering the reported tens of millions of Euros that go into the spectacle’s production—although they appear to be recouping their losses from bar sales as I pass one of the fountain-side pop-ups. Prost!“We adore Eurovision,” proclaim Monro and Vita, both from Ukraine. “It’s the best because it’s a celebration of music, of beautiful people!”Performers take to the stage in the Eurovision Village. Connor SturgesStage tests at Wiener Stadthalle the day before the grand finale Connor SturgesThe infectious energy and sense of inclusivity keep me smiling on the 30-minute walk to my hotel, the buzz keeping the slumber I desperately need at arm’s length.Backstage ahead of the grand final, the scale of the production is staggering. The team has just 42 seconds to turn the stage around for each act, Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski ready to stall the show if necessary, as 28 cameras whizz around at remarkable speed. Looking at the scintillating lasers and riggers running back and forth, testing each element meticulously, it’s hard to comprehend how more than 160 million people will be looking on at the stage on Saturday night.Twenty-eight cameras and countless lasers and pyrotechnics transform the arena into one of the world's most-watched spaces. Whether it’s the anthemic Ya Ya Ya of Norway’s Jonas Lovv, the aptly-named On Replay from Georgia’s Bzikebi, or Britain’s very own Eins, Zwei, Drei that steals the show at the spaceship-like Wiener Stadthalle, one thing’s for certain. Roman Antiquities and Anthony van Dycks in Kunsthistorisches Museum’s glittering halls by day, flamethrower-backed head-bangers by night, all to a mind-bogglingly diverse soundtrack? Vienna has undoubtedly proven itself to be the master of the high-low.This article was originally published on Condé Nast Traveller UK.Why Everyone Will Be Going to Osaka in 2025Connor has gained experience since graduating at titles including The Sunday Times Magazine and Food & Travel, with stints in luxury travel PR and publishing along the way. ... Read More