So schön ist Wien Matinee

In February, I joined a contest sponsored by the city government with the theme “So schoen ist Wien” (Vienna is beautiful). Last month, I received an invitation to attend a matinee where Austrian President Heinz Fischer and Vienna Mayor Michael Haüpl themselves were guests. The event was held at the Wiener Stadthalle (trade hall/center) Halle F. I along with other participants attended and this is also where I met a japanese painter I wrote about on my other blog.

The F concert hall is one of the biggest in the trade center. Located just behind the Lugner City Mall, one station away from the Westbahnhof, Vienna’ main train hub. Also, hubby passes by this hall to his former office.

The first thing I noticed was a logo canopy/tent just by the entrance. They were giving out pieces of paper that I thought was part of the program…it was actually propaganda against the government building high-rise buildings in areas that would destroy significant cultural mementos.

The inside is laden with traditional trade show flooring, (ground floor) black tiles and the center aisle covered with red trade show carpet. There are wood stairs both left and right leading to the concert hall. There were logo mats placed just before the entrance, the Vienna City logo that is. The concert hall can hold upto 2,500 people so it was full-packed then considering that the President himself would attend. I think the event was in line with his campaign for presidency which he won last April 25th.

The 2-hour program was not without humor, as the popular stage actor/host carried himself well both in addressing the public and interviewing the prominent people. Ballad songs of a popular group were also heard in between (I’ve written about this over my other blog so I won’t emphasize.)

Of course, we were given a chance to take photos of the politicians and our photos displayed outside. There was a buffet afterwards and I only got myself a muffin. 😉

(Some politicians and other prominent names in Austria with First Lady Margit Fischer – in terno with the president- as they look at Viennese Mayor Michael Haüpl)