Saalfelden opened the 2019 Salzburg Harvest Festival

After the jazz festival last week, the focus in Saalfelden this weekend was on traditional sounds. Music was played and celebrated on a total of three stages in the town centre at the state-wide Bauernherbst opening. The programme ranged from the Bürgermusik Saalfelden and the Saalfeldener Holzmusi with their unusual instruments to the brass band Juvavum 8 and innovative folk and world music from the Salzburger Nockerl. 

At the craft market, visitors could experience the work of wood turners, wood carvers, basket weavers, blacksmiths and carpenters up close. Or watch a carpenter create a real "Pinzga fence" - a craft that only a few people still master, even in the region. 

Among the guests at the festival in Saalfelden were Provincial Councillor for Agriculture Josef Schwaiger, Provincial Farmer Elisabeth Hölzl, SalzburgerLand Tourismus Managing Director Leo Bauernberger, Chamber of Agriculture President Rupert Quehenberger, Saalfelden Mayor Erich Rohrmoser, Silvester Gfrerer from the Salzburger Alm- und Bergbauernverein, Michael Porenta from the Raiffeisenverband Salzburg, Daniela Kinz from Salzburg AG and the team from Stiegl Brauwelt and SalzburgMilch. 

Parade: "The forest, the wood - our roots"

As always, the traditional Harvest Festival parade was the major highlight of the opening of the nationwide Harvest Festival. The farmers from the region, together with the local customs and traditional associations, brought this year's Harvest Festival motto "Of roots and treetops" to life. The numerous visitors along the parade route in the town centre applauded the creative design of old floats, horse-drawn carriages and vintage tractors - before the "fifth season" in SalzburgerLand was officially ushered in with the Stiegl beer tapping. 

Schwaiger: "Harvest festival rooted in the land"

"The Bauernherbst motto once again underlines how great the longing of guests and locals for an intact natural and forest habitat is," said Provincial Councillor for Agriculture Josef Schwaiger in his opening speech. "Every year at the Harvest Festival, the well-functioning cooperation between tourism and agriculture is particularly evident. The large number of participating farmers shows how deeply rooted the Harvest Festival is in the province of Salzburg." 

Guests and locals at one table 

Of course, the Harvest Festival also includes the right culinary delights. Visitors to the festival were able to sample home-made regional quality products and traditional dishes from the farmhouse kitchen at many Harvest Festival stands. For example, guests who were on holiday in SalzburgerLand and visited the festival were able to enjoy home-pressed juices, herbal specialities, apple wheels or "Pinzgauer Bladl" (filled dumplings). 

Bauernberger: "Ideal example of sustainable tourism" 

"The Salzburg Harvest Festival brings guests and locals together at one table. This is its particular strength and the main reason why it is now the best-known tourist product brand in SalzburgerLand," says Leo Bauernberger, Managing Director of SalzburgerLand Tourismus GmbH. "The Harvest Festival spans an authentic arc from the work and way of life of our farmers to genuine customs and traditional crafts to regional dishes and homemade products straight from the farm. This makes it an ideal example of sustainable tourism. It is close to nature, strengthens regional cycles and brings added value from tourism directly to the people in the Salzburg regions." 

A total of 72 Harvest Festival communities are part of the 24th Salzburg Harvest Festival this year. Up to and including 3 November, around 2,000 events are on the programme, with more than 500,000 visitors expected once again.