The Austrian Armed Forces’ military music festival was a complete success: together with its partners – the province of Carinthia, Licht ins Dunkel and ORF, the Austrian Armed Forces welcomed around 12,000 visitors to the largest military music event in the country at the Wörthersee Stadium in Klagenfurt. The charity event was performed by more than 700 musicians from a total of five nations.
Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner: “I am delighted that our military bands will be performing together again this year and will be able to delight numerous spectators with their musical performances. Every year, the Military Music Festival is one of the largest musical events of the Austrian Armed Forces and our partnerships also support a good cause. I am particularly proud of our soldiers who make their contribution together with Licht ins Dunkel in this way.” At this year’s military music festival (click here for the follow-up reports on the military music festivals 2022 and 2019), including the hosts, the Carinthian Military Band, as well as the military bands from Vorarlberg, Tyrol, Salzburg, Upper Austria, Burgenland and the Guard Band from Vienna. A special feature of this year’s festival was the participation of international military bands from Italy, Slovenia, Montenegro and Oman. Other highlights were the special guests. Alongside chart topper Chris Stegerwho is currently doing his basic military service in the army, Melissa Naschenweng and Andreas Schager also performed their most famous hits.
Governor Peter Kaiser: “Music is a language that is understood all over the world and connects people across all borders. By hosting the military music festival in the Wörthersee Stadium, Carinthia has sent out an unmistakable signal of solidarity and cooperation in the truest sense of the word, far beyond the borders of our province. It shows that soldiers can work together and act together across borders. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the success of this fantastic festival.” This year, the musicians’ musical repertoire was also extremely varied. In addition to classical marching music, the military musicians also presented musical pieces from a wide range of genres, from pop to rock and on to classical music. https://militaeraktuell.at/sieben-neue-militaerhunde-in-dienst-gestellt/ Harald Kräuter, Director of Technology and Digitization at ORF: “The military music festival in Klagenfurt was a successful start to the new campaign year of Licht ins Dunekl and it was a great pleasure for me to take part. As a platform for society, it is important for ORF to recognize and present people’s concerns and needs. The large media platform offered by ORF motivates many Austrians to donate, which helps people in need in Austria. A big thank you therefore goes to the energetic donors for their solidarity contributions as well as to the Austrian Armed Forces, who provided a great start with the military music festival.” Mario Thaler, Managing Director of Licht ins Dunkel: “We consider ourselves lucky to have such a strong and reliable partner as the Austrian Armed Forces at our side. For 50 years, the recruits have been providing support on the donation hotlines or in the organization of donation events. Cooperation is just as important when the Austrian Armed Forces are deployed in the event of a disaster, for example last year the floods in the Carinthian Gegendtal valley directly on site and ORF Carinthia organizes a fundraising day for Licht ins Dunekl within a very short space of time in order to help the affected families quickly and unbureaucratically.”
