In Austria every season has its festivities : culture, music and traditions. This is an opportunity to immerse themselves in local life and meet warm and welcoming locals.

More than 400 balls take place in Vienna every winter, attracting some 300,000 fans from around the world. Between the Opera Ball and the Life Ball, there are dances for all tastes and at all prices.

The ball is a unique tradition that dates back to the eighteenth century. Wearing masks and costumes was then reserved for the aristocracy and the private sphere. It's Emperor Joseph II who opened the spectators dance sessions rooms Hofburg, the imperial palace. Even today, we find in all these balls court etiquette: a majestic place, a strict dress code, the opening fanfare, the entry of beginning teachers, the sequence of different dances and musical genres . Another unique tradition, Damenspende, a small gift of choice given to each visitor upon entering the ballroom.

The origin of the famous waltz from Vienna goes back to the popular dances of Southern Germany the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The waltz word comes from the German walze meaning "turn". Originally a peasant dance, she will seduce Vienna and the Imperial Court. Couple dance by excellence, inspires the greatest composers like Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Ravel...

The Austrians pay close attention to the year-end holidays. There are hundreds of Christmas markets in this period. They settled Advent, on the big squares of Austrian cities. One finds there gastronomic specialties but also small handicrafts. The best known are those of Vienna or Graz and Slazbourg.

In Vienna, the Rathausplatz found 150 stalls offering Christmas gifts, decorations for trees, sweets and hot drinks.

Further on is the village Christmas in the square Maria-Theresien between the Natural History Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts. More than 70 stands offer traditional crafts and original gift ideas. You can also see the cultural and Christmas market in front of the Schönbrunn Palace, it turns into a New Year market after Christmas. The market brimming with animated features traditional crafts, Christmas decorations handmade, Christmas concerts and an extensive program for children.

For children, the Christmas market on Karlsplatz is ideal. Besides a varied program for children, arts and crafts is mostly offered here. On the place of the Big Wheel, activities for children are organized as musical live acts and a fun show program.

Carnival is also a very popular event in Austria which takes place from Epiphany to Ash Wednesday. The tradition of disguise comes from the time when one could once a year to remove the differences in social standing behind a mask and costume.

Between January and February, there is many parades such as ski races in costume. On the Sunday before Mardi Gras, the "Faschingssonntag", there are many costume parties throughout the country, as in Ebensee (Upper Austria), known for its Carnival rags. In the Tyrol, several villages (Nassereith, Imst, Telfs, Axams and Thaur) in turn organize parades with period costumes and carved masks.

Lederhosen were worn by Austrian boys from the 1930s to the 1970s and were once widespread among men of the Alpine and surrounding regions, including Bavaria, Austria, the Allgäu and the Italian region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. Today, they are worn on special occasions, such as a Biergarten or Zeltfest. Girls wear the Dirndl, which is part of Austrian Tracht.

Lederhosen were originally not exclusively a Bavarian garment but were worn all over Europe, especially by riders, hunters, and other people involved in outdoor activities. The flap, drop front, may have been a unique Bavarian invention. The drop-front style became so popular in the 18th century that it was known in France as à la bavaroise, "in the Bavarian style."

The popularity of lederhosen in Bavaria dropped sharply in the 19th century. They began to be considered as uncultured peasants' clothing that was not fitting for modern city-dwellers. Lederhosen have remained regionally popular and are popularly associated with virility and brawn. Some men wear them when gardening, hiking, working outdoors, or attending folk festivals or beer gardens.

They are a symbol of regional pride in Bavaria and the other areas where they are worn, but are rarely seen elsewhere. The role of lederhosen in Bavaria is thus comparable to that of the kilt in Scotland and the cowboy hat in the United States.