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13 August 2026 At Vienna’s Neustifter Kirtag, Dirndl Meets Drag
Quick Read
• The Neustifter Kirtag returns from 20–23 August 2026. A wine festival with an 18th-century storyA Kirtag is traditionally a local festival connected with the feast day of a church or patron saint. In Neustift am Walde, the tradition is linked to the wine-growing community and, according to local tradition, dates back to 1753. The story tells how Neustift winegrowers presented a harvest crown to Empress Maria Theresa after a disastrous harvest in 1752. She reportedly waived their taxes and returned the crown with the instruction to hold a Kirtag every year. The customs surrounding the vintner's crown and the Hiatabaum were added to Austria's national list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2020. The 2026 Kirtag runs from 20 to 23 August and follows a route through Neustift am Walde and Salmannsdorf, connecting numerous Heurigen and festival stalls. A useful orientation is provided by the official Neustifter Kirtag overview and map of the Heurigen.From everyday clothes to the modern Tracht lookThe clothes seen at the Kirtag today also tell a story of change. The modern Dirndl should not be confused with an unchanged 18th-century costume. The garment developed from rural clothing and became fashionable among urban women around 1900, while the meaning and design of Tracht continued to change during the 20th century. The renewed popularity of Tracht accelerated again from the 1990s onwards. At the Neustifter Kirtag, Dirndl and Lederhosen have consequently become part of the contemporary festival image. The contrast is revealing: a historical winegrowers' celebration has become a place where traditional-looking clothing functions as modern occasion wear.Drag arrives at the HeurigerThis changing meaning of clothing provides an interesting backdrop for QUEER MOMENTS, an initiative associated with the non-profit association Queer Dance im Gemeindebau. The association was formally established in 2019, while QUEER MOMENTS emerged as an event series in 2022. Its approach is to bring queer visibility and discussions about diversity into ordinary neighbourhood and cultural settings rather than keeping them separate from everyday life. On Sunday, 23 August, the initiative returns to the Neustifter Kirtag for the third time. The public programme starts at 10:00 in front of Weingut Fuhrgassl-Huber and is free to Kirtag visitors.Public programme: • 10:00 – Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten with musical performer Gernot Kranner and drag queen The Unfabulous Clitterella • 10:30 – Reading by Candy Licious: Benny – Das Eichhorn • 11:00 – Queer Frühschoppen with Johann Rosenhammer • 10:00–13:00 – Make-up with Lynda Pearce • Moderation: Drag King Eric BigClit When clothing becomes a cultural languageThe significance of the Dirndl at a place like the Neustifter Kirtag lies less in historical purity than in what the garment has become. Tracht can signal region, occasion, belonging or simply a desire to dress differently for a celebration. At the same time, today's versions are shaped by fashion, individual styling and changing ideas of identity. That makes the meeting of drag and Dirndl more than a colourful visual combination. Both forms of dress can transform the body and communicate something about how people want to be seen. At the Kirtag, this happens within a tradition that itself has continually changed. Tracht is therefore no longer confined to a narrow idea of rural costume: in contemporary Austria, it can become a flexible cultural language through which different regions, generations and identities take part in a shared celebration.Image: Visitors in colourful Dirndl and Lederhosen pose at the Neustifter Kirtag, surrounded by rainbow flags and festive decorations. © QUEER MOMENTS |