Aprilannual, April to May3 to 4 daysTicket needed
The Wachau Gourmet Festival is the region's flagship wine-and-food event, staged each spring at Loibnerhof and Schloss Durnstein. Visiting chefs collaborate with Wachau producers on multi-course dinners that pair Smaragd and Federspiel wines with seasonal dishes. A cellar walk programme allows day visitors to taste across a range of Vinea Wachau member estates during the festival period.
Host: Wachau Tourismus and Vinea Wachau member producers
Featured producers: domane-wachau, nikolaihof, fx-pichler, emmerich-knoll
Octoberannual, October2 weekends
The Vinea Wachau association opens its member cellars each October during the harvest season, inviting visitors to taste directly from tank and barrel at estates across the valley.
Host: Vinea Wachau Nobilis Districtus
Featured producers: fx-pichler, emmerich-knoll, prager, hirtzberger, domane-wachau
Septemberannual, September to October6 weeks
The Lower Austria Wine Autumn is a region-wide celebration running from September through October, encompassing harvest events, open cellars, and wine markets across all of Lower Austria's wine zones including the Wachau, Kremstal, Kamptal, and Wagram. Participating producers offer tastings, vineyard walks, and harvest experiences. The Wachau portion is particularly popular, set against the backdrop of autumn vine colours on the Danube cliffs.
Host: Niederosterreich Tourismus and wine producer associations of Lower Austria
Featured producers: domane-wachau, nikolaihof, emmerich-knoll
Aprilannual, April2 to 3 weeks (blossom-duration dependent)
The apricot blossom season in the Wachau transforms the valley into a pink-white floral landscape each April, drawing visitors from Vienna along the Danube by boat and bicycle.
Host: Wachau Tourismus and regional municipalities
Featured producers: domane-wachau, nikolaihof
Julyannual, July to August (multiple nights across different towns)Multiple single-night events across the summerTicket needed
Donau in Flammen is a summer fireworks and illumination series staged on the Danube at successive riverside locations from Krems to Ybbs across multiple nights throughout July and August.
Host: Regional municipalities of the Wachau and Nibelungengau
Featured producers: domane-wachau
Mayannual, late May to early June3 to 4 days
Krems, at the eastern gateway of the Wachau, hosts an annual wine festival in late May to early June celebrating both Kremstal DAC and Wachau wines.
Host: Stadt Krems and Kremstal DAC producers association
Featured producers: domane-wachau
Octoberannual, autumn (September to November, date varies)2 to 3 daysTicket needed
Welt der Weine is Vienna's annual autumn wine fair, bringing together Austrian producers including Wachau estates alongside international producers.
Host: Wein und Co and participating Austrian importers
Featured producers: domane-wachau, fx-pichler, emmerich-knoll
Novemberannual, November 11 (Saint Martin's Day) marks the traditional new-wine opening1 day (Saint Martin's Day) to a week of events
Saint Martin's Day (November 11) marks the traditional opening of the new wine season across Austrian wine regions including the Wachau. Heuriger (producer taverns serving the estate's own wine) ceremonially open their new vintage wines, and some villages hold public St. Martin's celebrations with Gansl (roast goose) dinners paired with the newest Steinfeder and Federspiel releases. The tradition is deeply embedded in the Lower Austrian calendar.
Host: Individual Wachau Heuriger (producer taverns) and village tourism offices
Featured producers: domane-wachau
Mayannual, early May, Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm (2026: 2 and 3 May; 2027: 1 and 2 May; in 2022 it was 30 April and 1 May)2 daysTicket needed40Wachau wine villages (Steinfeder Night at Schloss Spitz)
Open-cellar weekend at more than 100 Vinea Wachau member wineries along the Danube, where each estate pours several wines of the new vintage, including the first Smaragd wines of the year, from 10 am to 6 pm on both days. The 40 euro wristband also covers the Wachau buses, the Wachau railway and the Danube ferries, and the Saturday evening Steinfeder Night is held at Schloss Spitz.
Host: Vinea Wachau Nobilis Districtus
Aprilannual, a Friday afternoon and Saturday in April, 2 pm to 8 pm, as the core fair of the wachau GOURMETfestival (11 and 12 April 2025; 9 and 10 April 2027)2 daysKrems an der Donau (Dominikanerkirche)
Wine fair in the Dominikanerkirche in Krems, the origin of the wachau GOURMETfestival, where about 70 winegrowers selected by Vinaria from its wine guide pour their wines. The 2026 exhibitor catalogue lists Wachau, Kremstal, Kamptal and other Lower Austrian estates, and Alimentari stands in the cloister let visitors taste and buy food products.
Host: Vinaria
