WHAT’S NEW!? #25 - VILLACH IN APRIL 2023

The team of welcome2villach collects the most important news from Villach city life each month in a compact "News Story" with links to further information. In April we are of course looking forward to Easter, the Villach Easter Market, the Chocolate Festival and experiencing lots of culture.

• Off to Villach's city center: From March 30th until April 8th, the traditional Villach Easter Market attracts young and old to the city center. Of course, everything is sold around the Easter snack as well as handicrafts and Easter decorations. Children and the young at heart can enjoy a ride on the Easter Bunny Express, pony rides, trampoline jumping or a spin on the carousel. From April 12, all those with a sweet tooth will get their money's worth when 20 chocolatiers from Italy set up their stands at the Villach Chocolate Festival, and at the end of April (27-28) things will get really colorful in Villach's city center. The flower market of the Villach nursery and flower businesses will take place and show what makes the garden or the terrace bloom.
   
• Villach's Mehr-Wert-Frühling: Shopping in the Villach city area is now worth even more, because the added-value spring is back. Anyone who makes a purchase in a store in the city area, pays for a service or enjoys a meal in a restaurant between March 31 and April 15 will receive up to 25 percent back as a Villach voucher. How this works exactly is explained here. 
   
• Boundlessly sustainable: Villach's green axis is emerging. In mid-March, the first tree was planted on the main square, with nine more to follow. Thus the foundation stone was laid for the innovative sponge city principle. By the way, Vice Mayor Sarah Katholing, the sustainability officer, has found sponsors for all the trees who want to contribute to climate protection together. 
   
• Augen auf! Villach: Since 2018, the citizen participation portal Augen auf! Villach has been available as a web and app version, with which Villach residents can report concerns and deficiencies directly to the authorities. In order to be able to continue using Augen auf!, an adaptation is now necessary, because in the future a new technical web solution (HTML5) will be used. The steps to be taken during the changeover can be read here.

• Adjustments in bus traffic: As of April 2, there will be further changes to some of Villach's bus lines. Lines 1 and 6 will be better coordinated, and the Waldfriedhof will again have a bus stop. All timetables including the new changes can be viewed here. By the way, another new feature is that Villach's buses will run in real time at the bus stop on Hans-Gasser-Platz. Monitors display the actual departure times to the minute. At smaller stops, real-time data can be scanned via QR codes.
   
• Record for KärntenTherme: Since its opening in 2012, KärntenTherme has never had as many visitors as last year. In total, 322,138 guests were counted last year. The strong figures motivate for further improvements. For example, in the future it will be possible not only to book admission and SPA treatments online, but also to reserve loungers. In addition to the free outdoor fitness program, there will also be long spa nights with DJs in the summer.
   
• Flower competition starts: Already for 60 years the flower decoration competition of the city of Villach takes place, for the current competition one can register immediately. Participating flower and garden lovers will present their gardens and flower arrangements to a jury, and a total of nine categories will be judged. 
   
• Art and culture: From March 31 to May 6, Villach-born artist Romana Egartner will exhibit for the first time in her hometown at the Freihausgasse Gallery. On April 3, the four musicians "Klezmer reloaded" will bring the instrumental festive music once played in the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe to accompany weddings or joyous religious celebrations to Villach's Congress Center. A few tickets are still available here. Verena Terekina and Rupert Gredler invite to the vernissage in the Dinzlschloss on April 4. Also in the Dinzlschloss on April 25, 7 pm, a reading with multimedia staging of the author Sieglind Demus takes place. If you're in the mood for Berlin noise rock, join us on April 7 at Kulturhof:keller. The band Dÿse processes everything that the duo's life has to offer in its lyrics, which can be in German, Spanish, French or English.