Mercure's travel guides

Resounding with music at all times of the year, Vienna's concert calendar gets a boost in May and June, when the Wiener Konzerthaus concert hall hosts international as well as home-grown orchestras and soloists for the Wiener Festwochen (Vienna Festival). The Vienna Jazz Festival, also in June, offers an alternative to classical music. Film-lovers flock to the Viennale film festival in October, and Christmas and New Year are both special times to be in the city, with bright lights, festive decorations, mulled wine and singing galore.

Christkindlmaerkte (Christmas Markets)

Rathausplatz and other markets around the city, Vienna
http://www.christkindlmarkt.at/

Description:

Vienna is an enchanting city to visit during Advent, and much of its charm is due to the Christmas markets held around the city. The most famous is held on the Rathausplatz; it's a picture-postcard scene with festively lit stalls and the Rathauspark trees decorated with lanterns. You can buy presents and souvenirs, chocolate-covered fruits, roasted chestnuts and Glühwein (mulled wine). For those who find this a bit too kitschy, there are alternative markets: the more rustic, homely feeling of the market in Schönbrunn; the market on the grounds of the Belvedere Palace; or, probably the favorite of the locals, the market on the site of the Altes AKH (Old General Hospital).
November 12 - December 24, 2011

Bälle in Wien

Multiple venues, Vienna
http://www.wien.info/media/files/ballvorschau.pdf

Description:

Carnival season brings colour and spirit into the depths of winter, and, in Vienna, it also brings about 300 Balls, and the city swings in three-quarter-time. Organizers, ranging from political parties to businesses, clubs and charities, put on events in some of the city's grandest venues. Tickets can be bought for most of the events; even the most famous, the "Opernball," held at the end of the season in the State Opera House.
January 1 - April 30, 2012

Wiener Eistraum

Wiener Rathausplatz, Vienna, 1010
http://www.wienereistraum.com

Description:

To help you keep the extra pounds off during winter, the city of Vienna transforms City Hall's park into a skater's paradise. 4000 square meters of ice is laid in rinks and on paths running through the park. Music from Radio Wien helps you find your rhythm and a great atmosphere enchants the evenings when the park is lit-up. Food and drink stalls are also in the park to sustain energy levels. Skating is open every day; a curling rink opens Mon-Fri 5pm-10pm.
January 19 - March 4, 2012