What's all this about then?

As most people aren't aware of, Linz as well as Vilnius, will be the european capitals of culture for 2009. The European Capital of culture is an initiative from the European Union which rotates through the member countries and tries to encourage the chosen cities to showcase their cultural strengths, increase tourism and change or enhance their international reputation. Now culture can take many forms which is just as well considering Cork had this role in 2005!

So Linz, a city of almost 300,000 people situated in the state of Upper Austria about 200km west of Vienna and about 120km east of Salzburg, shares this role with Vilnius for 2009. So what culture does Linz have to offer the european community and the world at large? Surprisingly enough there is quite a breadth of things to do in Linz prior to Linz09. Among the cultural highlights up to now various goings-on in the Landestheatre, the Brucknerhaus, the Posthof as well as the various exibits and exhibitions in the Lentos, the Ars Electronica and also in the Schlossmuseum. Linz also hosts various festivals throughout the year - one of the highlights of which is the Pflasterspektakel which is a stret theatre festival that takes over the inner city for a long weekend every July.

Linz has been busy readying itself for Linz09 for quite some time. Obviously a lot of culturally relevant events have been planned but other things have also being changing the face of Linz. The Landestheatre has been given a makeover, the Ars Electronica has been extended, new carparks and hotels have been built, a lot of maintainence work on the city has been done like cleaning of streets and buildings and roadworks. Apparently there is also a ban on major works like roadworks for the year which will make for an unusual experience for the people in Linz!

So who am I to blog about Linz... I'm originally from Ireland but have been living in Linz for almost the last 7 years. This should provide an interesting perspective on how Linz and it's inhabitants deal with the special year for the city. My opinions of Linz and it's people are mixed at the best of times but they are generally positive, after all why else would I spend 7 years of my life here!

So I hope to be a bit more culturally involved in Linz for the next year and hopefully longer. Here i'll comment various events or just general happenings in the city as seen from my perspective.

So let's see what Linz09 brings!