Best of Pink Lake Festival 2017 Photos Videos – Who thought the Austrian mountains have nothing to offer for the LGBTQ+ community? We have to disabuse you! Already for 10 years in a row, Carinthia, a state in the south of Austria, is celebrating with hundreds of gay guys, lesbian girls, trans- and bisexual people together with their friends and allies colorful Pink Lake Festival in and around the market town Velden am Wörthersee. The hot summer sun, temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius, and great music by a well-known DJ lineup with James Munich and DJane Käry from Frankfurt am Main (Germany), transformed the popular holiday region around Lake Wörth for 4 days into a happy, open-minded, and peaceful LGBTQ+ festival.
Together with visitors and friends coming from Austria, Germany, and all over Europe, we shared wonderful moments at the SOL Beach Club with live music, water sports, and 25 degrees warm water of the Lake Wörthersee during the day. In the evening, the theme and costume parties turned the dark hours in South Austria into pink and blue colored party nights starting with the annual Almdudler Almrausch Lederhosen Party, the Pink & Blue Party in an old factory, and the wonderful Pink Lake Cruise on the Lake. And of course, we have to mention our new friends and great drag queen performers Melli & Mataina. And now, enjoy the Pink Lake LGBTQ+ Festival with our photos and videos and some beautiful pink waves in Austria through a couple of men‘s eyes!
10 years Pink Lake LGBTQ+ Festival am Wörthersee
In 2007, no one could have estimated the success story of an LGBTQ+ festival in the south of Austria. This year, 10 years after the first edition, Michael Drescher and Jeffrey Wahl, the two founders of the Pink Lake Festival, are happy to announce, that more than 1,500 people from all over Europe turned Lake Wörthersee into a Pink Lake with some extra rainbow-colored waves during the festival’s events. The popular holiday region from Klagenfurt to Velden am Wörthersee is proud of their annually open-minded and gay-friendly festival. Together with their co-hosting drag queens Melli & Mataina from Berlin the organizers are happy to offer the local LGBTQ+ community the only big Gay Event in southern Austria registering growing popularity as an established LGBTQ+ event in the European Gay Pride agenda. Planning to attend the next summer edition of Pink Lake LGBTQ+ Festival 2021? The next south Austrian LGBTQ+ Festival will take place from 26th to 29th of August 2021!
Opening Event: Almdudler Almrausch Party at Gemonaplatz
The first highlight of the 4-days festival was the Almdudler Almrausch Party in the center of Velden am Wörthersee. The crowd dressed in traditional mountains garments turned the Gemanoplatz in Velden into a pink illuminated party zone. The hilarious hosts of the night, Berlin’s drag queens Melli & Mataina, who have been in on it since the beginning, guided the enthusiastic LGBTQ+ people with funny jokes, songs, and dance numbers through the evening. Part of the show was the Partyband „die Stockhiatla“ with live music and a performance group dancing the traditional Schuhplattler. Once again, the Almdudler Almrausch Party was a huge success bringing all visitors together as a great opportunity to meeting old and new friends from all over Europe.
Slideshow of the most fun Almdudler Photos of 2017
Tips how and where to buy Lederhosen
Although Karl grew up in the East German mountains with its own traditional folk garments, we did not have proper clothing for the first party event of the Pink Lake Festival. Therefore, we went shopping in Klagenfurt, the next bigger city on the east shore of Lake Wörthersee. We found our shop of the day at the Herrengasse called “Heimatwerk Kärnten”. How to buy the right Lederhosen? And how to wear them properly?
Join us on our leather pants shopping tour at “Kärntens Heimatwerk” >
Exploring nature & the mountains of Carinthia
Before we turned into lazy sun tomatoes at the Pink Lake Beach Club on Saturday, we used our free Friday to explore the south Austrian Alps. We love nature and the mountains. Understandably enough, we put on our new Lederhosen, packed our backpack, and jumped in our rental car heading towards the beauty of Austria. The first destination of our one-day road trip was the 851 meters high mountain Pyramidenkogel with its 100 meters high observation tower on top. The highlight of the viewing tower on the Pyramidenkogel for us, additional to the view, of course, was the highest roofed slide in Europe. What an experience! Don’t forget to buy your slide tickets at the entrance before going up to the top with the elevator.
From Pyramidenkogel to Sankt Katharina
Strengthened with the popular herbal lemonade “Almdudler”, we decided to make a longer hike in the afternoon. Just about 20 minutes driving from the Pyramidenkogel, we discovered the 45 minutes hike up to the church Sankt Katharina on top of the Kathreinkogel (772 meters high) in Schiefling am See. The hike to the top of the conspicuous mountain through the wild forest and over alpine pastures with cows eating the juicy green grass was mind-blowing beautiful inhaling the fresh mountain air. The view and the sunset from the top over the hills, valleys, and the Wörthersee is breathtakingly stunning. If you can manage to be on the mountain top before 4 pm, you can visit a small museum about the history of the settlement dating back from the 7th millennia b.c. with remaining and preserved ruins and graves from that time. Our tip: park your car on one of the parking slots at the beginning of the trail next to the main road and pack enough drinking water.
Pink & Blue Club Night at Fabrik Techelsberg
Back in our hotel, we showered and went for dinner at the hotel’s restaurant. After the delicious burger and pasta meals, we felt reinvigorated and ready to hit the dancefloor at Pink & Blue Club Night in an old factory building in Techelsberg. The dress code of the night was anything in blue and pink, just as we prepared! Since the party location was outside Velden town, Pink Lake organized a free bus shuttle from Velden city center to the “Fabrik Techelsberg” going every 30 minutes. If the party takes place there next year again, and you want to go in your car, be prepared, that there are almost no parking areas around. Additionally, don’t forget to bring cash, since in Austria paying by card is NOT that common, not yet at least. Thank you, for such a fun night where we met great new friends!
Rocket Rooms Velden
If you are looking for a stylish, central, and gay-friendly place to stay during Pink Lake Festival, the ROCKET ROOMS in Velden am Wörthersee are the right choice for you. Although the hotel is located right in the center of the market town, we had a wonderfully quiet sleep in comfortable beds due to perfectly isolated rooms with huge balconies and a rich breakfast.
SOL Pink Lake Beach Club am Wörthersee
Chilling at Lake Wörthersee was our only intention for Saturday. After a wonderful night at ROCKET ROOMS Velden, we packed our beach club stuff including sun lotion, cameras, and our two unicorn drinking floats, and walked down to pier 2 right in front of the famous castle, “Schloss Velden“. Part of the festival was the free boat shuttle service “Pink Lake Speedline” directly connecting Velden and SOL Beach Club in front of the Hotel Park’s. Beanbag chairs, an indoor-pool with a sauna area, a rooftop sun deck, and the 25 degrees warm water of Lake Wörthersee brought us heaven down to earth relaxing at the waterside with our new friends. Highlights of our Saturday were the live concert of Virginia Ernst and the Beach Games with Melli & Mataina. But the day didn’t end at the Beach Club, at least not for us!
Slideshow of the Pink Lake Beach Club 2017
Slideshow Water fun at the beach club of 2017
Highlights of the international LGBTQ+ Festival in Velden am Wörthersee
Because at 20:00 hours sharp the first of the three Lake Cruise boats arrived at the pier in front of Schloss Velden welcomed by hundreds of LGBTQ+ people eager to dance the night away on Lake Wörthersee. Hundreds of curious straight spectators witnessed the boarding procedure of the dressed crowd in sailor outfits hungry to get a chance of a highly coveted photo with Melli and Mataina. After the boats were fully loaded with queer party people, the cruise to the center of Lake Wörthersee started more or less on time. The atmosphere was almost magical, especially when after sunset the three cruise boats tied up together in the middle of the lake. Each boat offered different music and the people on board could switch during the cruise from boat to boat. We could choose between electro/dance music, Schlager music, and, our favorite, songs from the 80ies and 90ies. Even though it started raining later during the night, the party mood on the cruise ships was going strong throughout the whole night. Check it out yourself and enjoy the best movie clips in our Pink Lake Cruise 2017 after-movie!
Our favorite Lake Cruise Photos 2017
Interesting posts for your Gay Trip to Carinthia:
- Attend the 11th LGBTQ+ Festival Pink Lake Wörthersee >
- Stay at the gay-friendly ROCKET ROOMS Hotel in Velden >
- How & where to by traditional Austrian Lederhosen in Carinthia >
- Hike the Pyramidenkogel with a stunning view over the Lake Wörth >
- Get a feeling of the gay-friendly side of Carinthia in Southern Austria >
Why You Should Attend Pink Lake Festival 2021
We visited the LGBTQ+ event already three times and are already busy planning our fourth time in 2021. Why should you visit Lake Wörthersee in 2021, already for the 13th edition? We’ve got some great reasons for you to visit the Austrian summer festival in Carinthia.
Now it’s your turn to join Pink Lake Festival 2021
The Pink Lake Festival for us was an unexpected but wonderful highlight of our gay travel year. We met great people like the organizers Michael and Jeffrey, the photographer Sabrina with her girlfriend as well as the guests and fans of the Pink Lake Festival Paolo from Munich, Lukas from Vienna, and the gay couple Patrick and Markus from Klagenfurt. The gay-friendly summer atmosphere raised a real gaycation feeling at the end of August in the middle of the Austrian Alps. And made us definitely put the LGBTQ+ Pink Lake Festival 2018 on our MUST-VISIT list again for our next year’s gay travels in Europe. We will keep you posted and updated about Pink Lake 2018 on our blog and of course, on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. See you in Austria 2018 again!
Thank you, to Tourism Carinthia, Tourism Wörthersee, and Pink Lake Festival to make this article possible. Nevertheless, our opinion, writings, and photos/videos are our own, as always.
Karl & Daan.