2 May 2023

Vienna Insight: Austria For Life's historical costume runway-like show at Schönbrunn Palace kicked off this year's fundraising campaign to support Austrian children, young people and families

The theatrical, musical and operatic charity show 'Austria For Life', which commemorates Austria's history and raises funds for the 'Österreich Hilft Österreich' (Austria Helps Austria) initiative, took place on the evening of Saturday, 29 April at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. The show reached a smaller number of viewers on television - the newspaper Kurier called the number of 144,000 TV viewers a debacle. The quality of the staging in general was criticized, for example, by the daily Der Standard. However, the charity event achieved its goals of raising awareness of the precarious situation in which many Austrian families live and successfully collecting donations.

The historical costume runway-like show performance of more than 150 artists including world stars such as opera singer Anna Netrebko or Eurovision Song Contest 2023 participants Teya & Salena, took place under the patronage of President of Austria Dr. Alexander van der Bellen, who addressed children and young people with the message that they are not alone and that there is a livable future. The President called on everyone to work together to create a future in which children, young people, and families feel safe and secure. Cardinal Archbishop Christoph Schönborn said (translated from German): "We are going through difficult times, but I am optimistic because there are so many people who are socially engaged."

The initiative 'Österreich Für Österreich' supports children, young people and their families through aid projects to secure their existence, promote learning and education, and provide psychosocial counseling.

The online address for donations is austriaforlife.org/spenden. It's announced that the donation hotline at 08006642023 will be active until 15 May.

Image: View of the stage of the charity show 'Austria For Life' for the initiative 'Österreich Hilft Österreich' on 29 April 2023 in front of Schloss Schönbrunn. Photo: © Austria For Life / Katharina Schiffl.