Everything You Need to Know About Austria's Largest Food Festival

The Genuss Festival is the largest and most diverse culinary event in Austria, seeing around 200 exhibitors descend on the capital, bringing with them regional specialties ranging from Tyrolean smoked ham to pumpkin oil from Styria. Row after row of dainty white tents line the paths of the picturesque Stadtpark, transforming the ordinarily serene space into a foodie extravaganza for a weekend.

Celebrating ‘the culinary heritage of Austria‘, the festival is designed to give visitors an insight into lesser-known Austrian cuisine from the federal states. It is a melting pot of flavours and smells and will introduce you to curiosities such as powidl (a kind of Austrian jam made with plums and prepared without artificial sweeteners) and poppy seed noodles known locally as mohnnudeln.

Whether it is cheese from Burgenland or wine from the Viennese hills, you will surely find something that tickles your fancy at the festival. Serving both foodie consumers and creators, there is a 200 m² gazebo (Gourmetzelt) where farmers and bakers share tips and secrets about their special techniques as well as host workshops and talks on subjects such as sustainable and environmentally-friendly cooking and farming. Cooking demonstrations take place throughout the day, giving visitors the opportunity to learn the art of creating authentic Austrian dishes.

The event is family-friendly and contains a sizeable BBQ area where guests can settle down and enjoy a picnic and the lively surroundings.

The festival, which takes place early in May, is easily accessible from the Stadtpark U4 station. See here for further information on how to get there and what to expect.