Festival Der Regionen

What Festival Der Regionen does

Festival der Regionen (FdR*) is a registered Austrian cultural association (Kulturverein, ZVR 211788101) founded in 1993 and headquartered at Tabakfabrik Linz in Upper Austria. It operates a biennial contemporary art and culture festival held in rotating rural regions of Upper Austria outside metropolitan areas, producing site-specific artistic projects, installations, performances, and discourse events in collaboration with local communities, municipalities, and cultural initiatives. Curation is driven by a rotating Program Board that selects projects from an open call aimed at artists, collectives, and community members addressing social, ecological, and political themes. The organization is led by Managing Director Otto Tremetzberger and Chairwoman/Program Lead Fina Esslinger, supported by a small core team of approximately 15 staff and board members including outreach, communication, commercial assistance, a nautical advisor, and web development functions.

The festival's underlying infrastructure is non-technological: it does not develop or operate proprietary platforms or AI systems, and some editions incorporate digital media or AR elements as part of artistic programming rather than as core technology. Its primary 'products' are the biennial festival editions (e.g., 2025 'Realistische Träume' in Innviertel/Braunau; upcoming 2027 'Eintauchen/Diving Deeper' along the Danube from Linz to Aschach an der Donau), festival catalogs, a newsletter, and an extensive online archive of all past editions.

Its business model is publicly funded rather than commercial. Principal revenue streams come from Austrian federal (Bundeskanzleramt, BMBWF), Upper Austrian state (Land Oberösterreich), and municipal (Stadt Linz) cultural funding bodies, supplemented by EU INTERREG programs, the Arbeiterkammer OÖ, and minor private and media partners. Ticket pricing is free or 'pay-as-you-can' for accessibility, so the festival does not earn material direct revenue from audiences. Distribution is direct, via in-person festival events across multiple regional venues, supported by PR, social media, and recurring media partnerships with Der Standard, ORF/FM4, Nachrichten.at, Dorftv, and regional radio.

Name

Festival Der Regionen

Legal name

FESTIVAL OF REGIONS

Website

https://fdr.at

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Festival der Regionen is a nonprofit Austrian cultural association that runs a biennial contemporary art festival in rotating rural regions of Upper Austria, funded primarily by public cultural bodies and free to the public.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Arts and Cultural Festival

NAICS

Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries (711), Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts & Culture Community Festivals (Multidisciplinary Arts Weeks) (MPAGAEAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Cultural Festivals & Events Organizations (BPAGAHAG)

Keywords

• Contemporary art festival
• Cultural programming events
• Rural community art
• Artistic project curation
• Open call art submissions

Headquarters

HQ city

Linz

HQ country

Austria

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Public Cultural Funding: Festival der Regionen operates as a publicly funded arts festival. It receives principal funding from government bodies including the Austrian Federal Chancellery (Bundeskanzleramt), the Province of Upper Austria (Land Oberösterreich), the City of Linz, and the Braunau district. Additional funding comes from federal ministries, EU INTERREG programs, and other public cultural institutions.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Festival der Regionen produces and presents a biennial contemporary art and culture festival held in rotating rural regions of Upper Austria, featuring site-specific artistic projects, installations, performances, and discourse events curated through open calls and a Program Board. The festival also publishes print catalogs documenting each edition and distributes a free email newsletter covering the independent arts scene.

Product overview

Festival der Regionen is a biennial contemporary art and culture festival held in Upper Austria since 1993. It operates as a single unified cultural event rather than a platform, with each edition centered on a specific regional theme (e.g., 'Eintauchen/Diving Deeper' for 2027, 'Realistische Träume' for 2025, 'Unter Tag/Underground' for 2021). The festival features rotating Program Boards for curation and includes physical products such as festival catalogs. Editions are documented through catalogs and supported by newsletter subscriptions. No digital platform or SaaS product exists; the offering is the festival event itself.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• FdR*27 Festival Edition - Eintauchen / Diving Deeper
• Festival der Regionen 2025 - Realistische Träume (Realistic Dreams)
• Festival Catalog (Katalog) - 'Realistische Träume' 2025
• Festival der Regionen Newsletter
• Open Call for Project Submissions (FdR*27)

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

24 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Bundeskanzleramt Österreich (Austrian Federal Chancellery)coreOthersPrimary main funding provider of the Festival der Regionen, supporting the festival as a major national cultural institution.
• Land Oberösterreich (Province of Upper Austria)coreOthersMajor regional funding provider and main supporter, with multiple directorates (Kultur und Gesellschaft, Umwelt) contributing to festival funding.
• Stadt Linz (City of Linz)coreOthersCore municipal funding partner for the festival, supporting cultural programming through Linz Kultur.
• BMBWF (Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research)minorOthersFederal ministry providing supplementary funding support to the festival.
• Arbeiterkammer OÖ (AK) (Chamber of Labour Upper Austria)minorOthersLabor chamber providing cultural funding support to the festival.
• ÖBB (Austrian Federal Railways)minorOthersMobility partner providing transportation support for festival attendees and logistics.
• Nachrichten.at / OÖNachrichtenminorOthersPrimary media partner providing editorial coverage and media support for the festival.
• DER STANDARDminorOthersMain media partner — national newspaper providing editorial and media coverage for the festival.
• Kunstuniversität Linz (University of Art and Design Linz)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey academic partner contributing to festival projects; festival Obfrau Fina Esslinger teaches at the university; student projects regularly featured in festival editions.
• Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien (Academy of Fine Arts Vienna)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner contributing student projects and research to festival programming (e.g., 'The Grid' project in 2021).
• Anton Bruckner Privatuniversität (Anton Bruckner Private University)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic music university contributing student performances and projects (JIM Institute for jazz and improvised music).
• DorftvminorOthersRegional media partner — free TV channel covering Upper Austrian cultural events.
• OKTO (Community TV)minorOthersAustrian community television channel providing media coverage for festival events.
• Freies Radio Salzkammergut (FRI)minorOthersRegional free radio station in Salzkammergut providing coverage of festival events and projects.
• FM4 (ORF)minorOthersAustrian national youth radio station of ORF providing media coverage for festival events.
• Kepler Salon LinzminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCultural discussion platform in Linz co-hosting discourse events and panel discussions as part of festival programming.
• KUPF OÖ (Kunst- und Kulturplattform Upper Austria)minorOthersCultural platform Upper Austria; its managing director Thomas Diesenreiter serves as festival board treasurer, indicating close organizational ties.
• Frauenforum SalzkammergutminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWomen's forum in Salzkammergut collaborating on feminist discourse projects and events.
• maiz – Autonomous Center by and for Migrant WomenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAutonomous center for migrant women; festival program board member Adriana Torres Topaga is a member of maiz.
• Swedish Embassy in ViennaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwedish Embassy co-presenting artist Efva Lilja's performance 'With Love' at the 2021 festival.
• Time's Up (Linz)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLinz-based art collective developing socially relevant interactive and transmedia art projects; contributed 'Wärmegreißlerei' project in 2019 and other works.
• Salzwelten HallstattminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHallstatt salt mine venue hosting artistic installations and projects for the festival.
• Hand.Werk.Haus Bad GoisernminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCraft and design venue in Bad Goisern hosting festival exhibition and project installations.
• HTBLA Hallstatt (Higher Technical College)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnical college in Hallstatt contributing student work and hosting festival projects across multiple departments (restoration, carpentry, ceramics).

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Donaufestival: Austrian contemporary music, performance, and arts festival held annually in Krems an der Donau. Comparable as an Austrian publicly funded contemporary arts festival with regional Lower Austrian identity and cross-disciplinary programming, though annual rather than biennial.
• Bergen Assembly: Triennial contemporary art event in Bergen, Norway, founded 2009. Comparable as a small-scale, publicly funded, time-limited contemporary art event with curatorial rotation and regional focus on Norway's west coast.
• Skulptur Projekte Münster: Decennial sculpture exhibition in Münster, Germany, since 1977. Comparable as a publicly funded, regionally embedded contemporary art event with site-specific public works and community engagement, although on a 10-year cycle.
• Manifesta: European nomadic biennial of contemporary art that rotates host cities across Europe. Highly comparable as a biennial, regionally rotating contemporary art event with site-specific projects and community engagement — though operating at a much larger pan-European scale.
• steirischer herbst: Annual Austrian contemporary arts festival held in Graz since 1968. Closely comparable as a long-running, publicly funded Austrian contemporary art festival with thematic programming and discourse components, although based in a regional capital rather than rural peripheries.
• documenta: Major quinquennial contemporary art exhibition in Kassel, Germany, founded 1955. Comparable as a globally significant contemporary art event with rotating curatorial models and strong public funding, though held on a 5-year cycle and at a far larger scale.
• Berlin Biennale für zeitgenössische Kunst: Biennial contemporary art exhibition in Berlin since 1998. Comparable as a biennial contemporary art event with curatorial rotation and public funding, though located in a major urban center.
• Liverpool Biennial: UK's largest contemporary art biennial, held in Liverpool since 1999. Comparable as a publicly funded biennial of contemporary art with site-specific urban/community-based programming, though in a major city rather than rural peripheries.

Regional players

• Wiener Festwochen: Vienna's annual international festival for contemporary performing arts. Comparable as an Austrian publicly funded contemporary arts festival, but located in a major capital city with year-round programming rather than rural rotation.

Broad incumbents

• La Biennale di Venezia: Historic Venice Biennale of contemporary art founded 1895. Comparable as the global benchmark for international contemporary art biennials with national pavilion structure and strong public funding, though vastly larger in scale and international scope.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/festivalderregionen
• Instagraminstagram.com/fdr.at
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/festival-der-regionen

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Festival Der Regionen