Returning to: Szene Openair Festival 2026
Just like last year, my journey began by taking the night train to Vorarlberg, Austria, to attend the annual Szene Openair Festival located alongside the Alter Rhein in Lustenau. This three-day festival with camping possibility and two big music stages is run by an organizational team and about 800 volunteers of all ages. It is the only music event of its kind this far out west.
Thursday
After walking through the tree-lined tracks from the shuttle bus to the festival grounds once again, I was happily greeted by familiar faces from last year, immediately making me feel at home and excited for the next three days to come.
Hoping that the weather would be better this year, my first festival day started with Austrian band Whsprs on the Szene stage, which I had never heard of before. Their music style is best described as a blend of alternative-rock and pop sounds, leaving the still sparse crowd curious. At one point, during their new anti-Trump song, lead singer Lukas Zeiler put on a blonde wig, clearly mocking the current US president.
Next up was German folk rock band Fiddler’s Green on the Alter Rhein stage. Their unique sound reminded me of artists like Santiano, which I used to listen to when I was younger. Despite the warm festival sun, I immediately felt like I had stepped into an Irish Pub somewhere, seeking shelter from the rainy weather outside.
Also on Szene stage was Austrian band Sharktank, which was also completely new to me. Their hit song "Washed Up" stayed with me though, effortlessly blending indie pop, alternative rock and hip-hop elements.
My highlight of the day, however, was Austrian Gen Z girl band lovehead, which we actually got to interview right before their performance. Originally from Burgenland, and now living in Vienna, Anna, Leni and Mara make funny and quirky, yet relatable and honest indie-rock music, often singing about real-life experiences. If you’ve been to a lovehead concert before, you know that before performing their song "anthony", they always share the story of how one of the band members "got close" to someone named Anthony and how things ultimately didn't work out between them. The trio first gained wider attention on social media through their song "erdnussallergie" (peanut allergy) which is a metaphor for "being allergic" to men. At the end of their set, they decided to rap a song because it "sells better" compared to indie-music, making fun of men in the gangster rap scene, which the crowd really seemed to love.
On the same stage, the German indie band ok.danke.tschüss performed their music, which they themselves describe as "Einhorn-Rock" (unicorn rock), in tracksuits. Their fans also came prepared, some of them even dressed up as unicorns, others only wearing lots of glitter on their face.
The night ended on a high note with German rapper Filow bringing lots of energy to the main stage, playing iconic songs such as "Rasenschach" or "BASS IST GEIL", as well as songs originally featuring other artists. "Jiggy" with Ikkimel or "JWD" with Ski Aggu, for example. Once his set was over, the crowd wanted more. With a few minutes left, Filow decided to play his biggest hit again, leaving us with the perfect soundtrack for the trip back home.
Friday
Friday was the most exciting day for me, as it contained a lot of artists I really like and listen to on a regular basis. When I arrived, it had unfortunately started to drizzle when Vulvarine was playing, but it got a lot worse when Ivo Martin was playing on the main stage. His fans didn’t let this stop them from enjoying the show. His intimate songs led to a lot of heartwarming moments in the crowd, leaving festivalgoers with a good overall feeling despite the rain.
On the Szene stage, Yola was accompanied by Dani Lia, despite her stage banner clearly stating that onle one solo artist would be present. The duo, best known for their track "ausnahmsweise", stormed the stage by bike, leaving the audience surprised, but excited for more. Throughout their set, they used other props such as water guns, creating a fun and playful atmosphere. If it weren’t for the artist that was lined up next on the main stage, the crowd probably never would have wanted their concert to end.
Viennese Legend BIBIZA got to perform on the main stage at Szene Openair Festival the same day his new album Rocknrollst★r dropped.
Fitting the colour scheme of his new album, his set design and clothes were white with stars. Even the band had white instruments, which was a big contrast to the previously black and red theme of singer BIBIZA. Iconic as always, he managed to rock the entire crowd with new tracks like "Frank" or "Unterwegs" as well as older classics like "Opernring Blues" and "Eine Ode an Wien". Surrounded by mountains and beautiful scenery, he evoked a wide range of emotions, despite his rockstar attitude. During "Blau", the entire crowd was jumping along to the song, it got quiet during some sadder and more thoughtful songs. One of them being "angefahrn", during which he got off the stage and joined his fans in the pit. "Regen" was another one of these songs, it only recently got added back to the setlist, after not having been played during his previous tour.
With the closing of BIBIZA's set, my favourite part of the festival was over, but with Aaron lined up right after, saying goodbye wasn’t too hard. The special thing about this festival was that Aaron actually got to perform twice that day! Once as a singer during his own set and once as a drummer for Zartmann. Both times, fans were excitedly singing along to all of their songs and not-yet fans were nodding their heads along as well. Almost everyone could sing along at least a little though during Zartmann's most famous song "tau mich auf". With my favourite song of his, "eehhhyyy", stuck in my head, I finally went back home to get some rest after such an eventful day.
Saturday
The last day of the festival was especially interesting because of its wide range in music, from metal to sad-girl music and 'cunty' rap, to Austrian rock and Italo pop to regular rap, almost everything was included! After Paleface Swiss performed for the metal fans of the festival, I was most excited for Cordoba78 to perform their set, as their new album Afterhour Kaltenbrunnen had just come out. I was not disappointed when they performed their songs with their usual power, only taking a short break after their song "Narzissen" – They asked a woman and her partner to come up on stage, where he proposed to her.
It wouldn’t be Szene Openair Festival, though, if everything was sunshine and rainbows. That is probably exactly why it started to heavily rain again during the performance of German singer and influencer Kayla Shyx, who performed despite having broken her leg only a week before. She didn’t let her cast stop her from an amazing performance, laughing about it with the audience. Despite the rain, her fans were glued to her performance on stage, where at some point she pulled out bubble guns, making the rain a little more bearable. At least the audience had a beautiful view.
Afterwards, Roy Bianco & Die Abbrunzati Boys performed on the main stage, followed by VICKY on the Szene stage. Her music is characterised by hyper-pop beats and provocative statements. Her live performance reminds me of that of German rapper Ikkimel. Her fans, mainly younger women, really enjoyed her performance, whereas the older and male part of the audience seemed a little sceptical.
The last night and festival was rounded off by German Rapper OG Keemo, whose music attracted a predominantly male audience, and who created several big mosh pits during songs like "Geist" or "Faust".
Final Thoughts
All in all, compared to last year, it wasn’t raining nearly as much during the festival and festivalgoers seemed super happy about this. With amazing artists and a big variety of musical genres, there was something for everyone at Szene Openair Festival 2026. Until next year!
CHECK OUT ALL PICTURES OF SZENE OPENAIR FESTIVAL 2026 HERE:
WORDS & PHOTOS BY:
Lea
Usually you'll find me at a concert, somewhere between barricade and moshpit or of course behind my camera. I love not only documenting the energy on stage, but also capturing the little moments in between. Vienna based:)
