Klanglicht festival lights up Graz and Vienna

ORF reports that the Klanglicht light and sound festival will return to Graz’s Eggenberg Palace with 14 artistic works this year, while also holding its first edition in Vienna. For the first time, organisers will charge admission for the entire event because of financial pressures.

The Graz programme will run from October 23 to November 7, from 6pm to 10pm, in the palace and its grounds. The Vienna edition will also begin on October 23 and continue until January 10, 2027, in the Schwarzenberg Garden at the Belvedere.

Bernhard Rinner, managing director of Bühnen Graz, described the festival’s development as a “transformation”. The organisation’s own contribution has been cut from 300,000 euros to 150,000 euros, and organisers hope to make up the difference through ticket sales.

Curator Birgit Lill-Schnabl said the 14 works would form links between the past and future of Eggenberg Palace, which she described as a “time machine”. Several works will be shown inside the palace.

In the Planetary Room, Inge Dick’s “Jahres Licht Weiss” captures light through photographs taken over several years, including the course of a winter day. The Australian studio Eness will present “Whispering Mountains” in the palace courtyard.

Robin Beekman’s “Continuum” will be shown in the palace chapel, leading to Helga Griffiths’ “Migratory Senses” in the sacristy. The work uses scents associated with home, childhood landscapes and the memories they trigger.

In the Planet Garden, Miriam Hamann’s “Planet 9” explores changes in knowledge and understanding through research and probability. Heleen Blanken’s “Abiosis” will be installed in the palace lapidarium, while Joschua Hohenbrink’s “Floral Forest” will transform a pavilion ceiling with Rococo and natural elements.

“Prism” is a work by students from the Institute of Design and Communication at Graz University of Applied Sciences, according to Lill-Schnabl.

Marko Mele, managing director of the Universalmuseum Joanneum and host at Eggenberg, said it was a pleasure to welcome Klanglicht back to the palace and its park.

The Vienna programme is organised by Georg Hoanzl. He said the organisers did not want to create another Christmas market in the private garden of the Schwarzenberg family, but that rituals involving warmth and light had always moved him.

The festival budget is expected to remain at about 700,000 euros, similar to 2025. Tickets cost 19 euros in advance and 24 euros at the evening box office. The price includes free travel on Graz public transport, while children up to the age of seven can attend free of charge.

Rinner also pointed to a historical connection. On October 15, 1673, Graz residents were asked to place lights in their windows for the marriage of Emperor Leopold I and Claudia Felicitas of Tyrol. The city was illuminated, he said, calling it the first Klanglicht.