Comments

Over the past 30 years, the Festival of the Regions has always dealt with such topics as transport, climate change, the environment, and in particular mobility in an artistic and activist manner. Creativity and sustainability are central elements for a society that is orientated towards the future. To watch how the cultural scene is taking on these challenges is inspiring. In order for innovative ideas to take a hold, there have to be people who are willing and able to think in an unencumbered manner and to share and open up creative spaces of possibility. This is something that the Festival of the Regions goes to prove again and again.
Leonore Gewessler,
Federal Minister for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation, and Technology

We want to congratulate the entire team for the impressive Festival of the Regions 2023. For us as mobility providers we see it as an incredible enrichment to experience the many different facets that inspired artists in engage with the Summerauerbahn railway line. Everyone was able to travel to the festival with a relaxed journey on the train and witness the beauty along the line. The special train for the opening of the festival was THE highlight for that year’s event programme. I would like to express my sincere thanks in the name of our entire team for the successful collaboration and want to wish you all the best for the next edition of Festival of the Regions!
Eva Hackl,
Head of Regional Management Upper Austria

I am very happy to be able to support this year’s Festival of the Regions that once more offers a great number of highlights from various different fields. The environmental department of the state of Upper Austria supports the VegLab in Freistadt with a grant, because it does matter where our food is produced. In the vegetable laboratory people are given the opportunity to delve into the world of vegetable production and learn more about the origins of our food without needing to have any previous knowledge.
Stefan Kaineder,
Secretary for the Environment and Climate Protection in Upper Austria

We are very happy to see that it is important to the organizers of the Festival of the Regions, to attempt to motivate guests to travel in a climate friendly manner to the festival by using public transport on the way there and during the festival itself. As we are also always working on getting more and more people to start to use public transport over a personalized vehicle, this cooperation with the Festival of the Regions fit perfectly into our current strategy!
Herbert Kubasta,
Director of Upper Austria’s Verkehrsverbund

High Time – with a motto like that, the chamber of labor had to get involved with the Festival of the Regions. Because it truly is high time. Be this in the struggle against the rising cost of living, for the better compatibility of work and family, or for a just share in the profits for the workers. And it is exactly for this that we need the sort of creativity that we were able to witness here over the course of ten days. We were particularly please to see that the winner of the AK-Kunst award, Pia Mayrwöger, was represented with her work Baugerüst. Congratulations for a successful festival!
Andreas Stangl,
President of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Labor

Under the banner of the festival motto High Time and a new strategic direction, the Festival of the Regions 2023 was able to pull of the feat of being both back to the roots and future orientated at the same time. The intense cooperation with regional cultural initiatives proved to be a reactivation of the original spirit of the Festival of the Regions while still remaining to be highly relevant today. In times of climate change, a focus on regionality is a path towards finding solutions without losing sight of the global issues. This was guaranteed by internationally active artists. I want to congratulate the FdR team for this next step.
Julius Stieber,
Cultural Director of the City of Linz