Where Vienna’s creative crowd goes this autumn

Vienna’s autumn calendar is looking good. But there is one date we’ve been counting down to: Friday, November 13. Founders Fest #3 takes over Palais Auersperg. Expect honest talks, people worth meeting, and a party that goes on until late.
Here’s your full autumn lineup, in order. Save the dates.

It started with a simple idea. The people building Vienna deserve a day that feels like a celebration, not a meeting. In 2024, the first Founders Fest took place in a garden courtyard. In 2025, more than 300 people spent an entire day with us in an old Viennese villa. In 2026, we’re going bigger: the third edition moves into the baroque rooms of Palais Auersperg.

Founders Fest isn’t another business conference. It’s a festival where real founders speak without filters and creatives meet business. The afterparty matters as much as the keynote. This year’s conversations focus on what comes next: the culture of achievement, leadership and AI.

When the talks end, the palace turns into a party with music until late. The people you just met become friends.

Every autumn, Vienna’s cinemas belong to the Viennale. Austria’s most important international film festival brings premieres, festival favourites from Cannes, Venice and Berlin, documentaries, retrospectives and plenty of films you won’t get a second chance to see on a big screen. Screenings take place in some of the city’s most beautiful cinemas, and many come with Q&As where directors and actors talk about their work.

Tickets for the most anticipated titles go fast, so check the programme early. Leave room for a spontaneous pick too, because that’s often where the best discoveries happen.

If you love design you can actually take home, this one is for you. Blickfang brings independent designers and small labels together at MAK, Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts. Furniture, fashion, jewellery, ceramics and objects are all under one roof.

The best part is that you meet the people behind the products, hear how things are made and buy directly from the makers. It’s the perfect place to find something unique for your home or to get your Christmas shopping done early, with a museum backdrop to match.

Paper Positions is an art fair dedicated entirely to works on paper: drawing, printmaking, collage, photography and everything in between. International galleries show contemporary positions inside the Semper Depot, the historic building designed by Gottfried Semper with its striking cast-iron columns and wooden ceilings.

The fair feels focused and intimate, so it’s easy to explore even if you’re not an art insider. It’s also a great place to start collecting, since works on paper are often more accessible than paintings or sculpture.

What happens when the world moves faster than we can follow? CIVA 2026 explores this question through digital art. The exhibition brings together immersive installations, moving images and live performances about technology, speed and how we live with both.

It’s set in Belvedere 21, the modernist glass pavilion that is one of Vienna’s most distinctive spaces for contemporary art. It’s an experience rather than a classic exhibition: step in, slow down and let it work on you. The good news is that it runs until March, so there’s plenty of time for a second visit.

This Human World is an international film festival for stories that matter. Its programme of independent documentaries and feature films looks at human rights, social justice and the lives of people whose voices are rarely heard.

Screenings take place at beloved Viennese cinemas such as Schikaneder and Filmcasino. Many films are followed by talks with filmmakers, activists and experts, so the conversation continues long after the credits roll. Go for the films and stay for the discussions.

Cream Vienna closes the season with a weekend for everyone who loves beautiful things. It brings together timeless and contemporary objects of desire: art, design, fashion and collectibles, along with drinks and creative food.

The setting is REAKTOR in the 17th district, one of Vienna’s most atmospheric event spaces. Come to browse, stay to eat and drink, and you’ll probably leave with something you didn’t plan to buy. It’s a stylish way to wrap up November before the holiday season begins.

Autumn in Vienna isn’t about staying in. It’s about the evenings that turn into something more: a film that stays with you for days, a designer whose story you remember, a stranger at an afterparty who becomes a friend.

That’s exactly what Founders Fest is built for. We didn’t want to create another conference. We wanted a day where the people building Vienna can step out of their work, meet each other and celebrate how far they’ve come. On 13 November, Palais Auersperg opens its doors for the third edition, and we’d love to have you there.