Side Events

The historic old town of Feldkirch at the foot of Schattenburg Castle and protected by a Buddhist monastery is home to many historical nooks and crannies, inns, taverns and markets and the legacy of the humanists who made history there long ago.

The Austria Guides have developed guided and themed tours of the city that present a wide variety of places, people and cultures and prove that it is the mix that makes Dornbirn the exciting city that it is.

The name says it all: fun is the name of the game at Funworld Hard. There’s something for everyone here – whether it’s 10-pin bowling on one of the 10 state-of-the-art Brunswick bowling alleys or exciting laser tagging. 

Creative minds and technical skills are required here. The task is to build a soapbox that can be raced from pre-made kits. There are no limits to creativity here. The next two hours will see participants fastening, measuring, building, glueing, painting and carrying out several test runs.

Wild and romantic gorges, paradises for waterfowl, steep waterfalls and deep diving basins – up to and including the serious whitewater, rafting in the loveliest mountain rivers in Europe has everything that nerves of steel and sharp eyes could possibly want. Appreciation for the beauty of Mother Nature and respect for her emerge as a matter of course.

Wenn es um Bier geht, blüht Vorarlberg auf. Seit Generationen und Jahrhunderten wird der hopfige Tropfen in allen erdenklichen Variationen gebraut. In der Hochzeit gab es sogar ganze 74 Brauereien in Vorarlberg. 

While the head is spinning in meeting rooms in the mornings, the cobwebs can be blown away by the fresh mountain air on the Karren in the afternoons. Dornbirn's local mountain is right at the heart of it all and the cable car takes visitors up to 976 metres in no time at all. 

The Rhine Delta nature reserve extends over an area of 2,000 hectares and is characterised by alluvial forests, wet and bedding meadows, reed beds and extensive sandy beaches and is a breeding and resting ground for birds.

How can gin be so subtle? How can kummel liqueur be so sophisticated? And what inspires these combinations of flavours? Participants on a guided tour at MAAN – makers of fine spirits in Alberschwende – will discover the love, patience and quality that goes into every bottle. 

Hop on, brakes off, and downwards you go. Around curves, over bridges, through forests and meadows – the view is marvellous, and adrenaline is guaranteed: is there a better team event than this?

The art of archery is underestimated – this sport is a far cry from our childhood games of cowboy and Indians. It demands a high degree of precision and concentration, discipline and inner tranquillity. All these are things which would be useful in daily life, if only we had gotten round to practising them.

The newly constructed cooperative cheese cellar in Lingenau is home to 32,000 cheeses. A visit to the cheese – which matures for between four and 18 months – constitutes an impressive walk through the storeroom at 10.5°C.

At the end of a hard day’s work in lovely meeting rooms, an exclusive wine-tasting session in any one of the many wine cellars in the region is the stylish way to finish off the evening. For instance, the water tower on Gebhardsberg built in 1079 has been afforded a new role since over a hundred different wines from the best wine-growing estates in Austria and the region of Bodensee-Alpenrhein have been stored in it.

This bridge is high, fair enough. One hundred and six metres should suffice for a gentle fall on an elastic rope, as well as for a good adrenaline cocktail in your body. This jump is considered seriously cool – the extremely tough safety standards have been proving themselves accident-free since 1997. This is the perfect place for anybody bravely looking for the next adventure.

The crunch of the snow, the crisp air, the panoramic views… a snowshoe hike brings you into the heart of wintery nature, to enjoy alpine landscapes with a sense of true calmness.