A playground for culture

When the EURO 08 kicks off on 7 June Austria's artists will also join the game. And they are well-positioned in the cultural "playground" of the city.

Karlsplatz art zone

The Kunstzone (art zone) on Karlsplatz will form the lively centre of cultural activities during the EURO. The area in the city centre offers an exciting one-month overview of Vienna's cultural and art scenes. The series of more than 100 events will start with a concert of Willi Resetarits and Ernst Molden on 8 June. Visitors can also embark on a journey through the sound worlds of the famous Vienna electronic scene at a special lounge. A temporary "stage on the lake" will be set up in the pond in front of the Baroque St Charles' Church for orchestra concerts and evenings of traditional Viennese songs.

Cult football items are on show at the exhibition "herz:rasen" at the nearby Künstlerhaus where visitors can explore the football world on an interactive tour and aspiring talents can even kick the virtual ball about. Those who prefer to see how the real ball artists do it should pay a visit to the cinema. Until 6 June Metro Kino presents football film classics, from "Roxy und ihr Wunderteam" (Austria, 1937) to "Bend It Like Beckham". Breitenseer Lichtspiele cinema and Bunkerei restaurant will also offer the chance to watch soccer stars dribbling across the big screen.

Hip-hop, classic music and the beautiful game

The football picnic on 1 June offers the chance to chill out in Augarten park to hip-hop sounds by the Austrian band Texta, who will perform together with inmates of the Gerasdorf youth prison, and urbaN Roots from Kosovo. Following the concert a preview of the film "Peace Kicking Mission" will be held at Bunkerei restaurant. Political events and teenage football enthusiasm merge into one in the photographs of Luca Faccio at MUSA (12 to 19 June). The photos of the naked installation organised by New York artist Spencer Tunick - shot at Ernst Happel Stadium in May 2008 - also offer unusual insights and are on show at "project space" on Karlsplatz from 24 June.

All those who would like to make their own artistic contribution to the EURO can express their feelings with the help of aerosol cans on a graffiti film reel near the stadium. The colourful installations on the facades of various buildings along the "Kunstmeile Donaukanal" (Danube Canal art mile) are sure to be a good source of inspiration. The series of cultural EURO events will end in style with a concert of opera stars Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón and Placido Domino in front of Schönbrunn Palace on 27 June and with piano virtuoso Lang Lang, accompanied by the Vienna Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta, on 28 June.