Song of the Month: July
I’m late again with my post for July, but you’ll see why. Summer is a time for lots of festivals, concerts and parties in Austria. We spent the last few weeks of July participating in the fun. We started with the “Fete Blanche” in Velden, where an entire town dresses completely in white for a huge night of DJs, bands, and drinks. I wasn’t sure how many people would actually dress up, but 99% of the crowd was in white, with some really elegant dresses for the VIP parties.
We finished off the month with Kirchtag, the annual weeklong celebration in our town that is a combination of beer tents, traditional (oompah) and modern bands, amusement park rides, and lots of food. Once again there is a dress code… traditional Tracht this time. The other thing these events have in common is the music, which leads me to the song of the month…
Song: Atemlos durch die Nacht by Helene Fischer
We first heard this song last winter during Apres Ski and then it started popping up anywhere there were groups of people. This genre is known as “Schlager” and this singer Helene Fischer is one of the most popular singers, but that’s a whole topic for another time. The lyrics mean “breathless through the night” and with everyone singing along at the top of their lungs, I think it’s pretty descriptive of our many late nights out in the last month!
The Szene or “scene” at the Fete Blanche (everyone really is dressed in white! – including us).
And then there was Kirchtag (and my new dirndl for 2014).
halftime