Organizer Information
AMADEUS Festival Vienna is an annual open-air classical music festival held on the grounds of the AMADEUS International School Vienna, in the city's 18th district (Währing). The festival brings international musicians to Vienna each summer and, according to its own materials, positions itself as part of the city's cultural summer programming, with an emphasis on classical music alongside broader engagement with environmental awareness and education. The festival's most recent editions have paired classical repertoire with contemporary artistic approaches — its sixth edition, for example, was themed "Metamorphosis" and featured performances exploring the transformation of musical tradition into new forms. This design competition is run as part of the festival's own communication strategy, inviting visual artists and designers to help produce the festival's promotional imagery.
Title & Description
AMADEUS Festival International Design Competition 2026/2027
AMADEUS Festival Vienna is running the fifth edition of its International Design Competition, open to emerging talents in visual arts and graphic design. The competition will award the best poster design promoting the AMADEUS Festival Vienna 2027 edition. This year's theme is PRISMA. Rather than focusing on musical iconography specifically, participants are invited to interpret the festival through broader ideas of creativity, dialogue, summer, culture, movement, and artistic spirit, producing a poster that reflects the festival's international character and welcomes audiences of all ages (16+).
Theme
PRISMA — participants are asked to interpret the festival through ideas of creativity, dialogue, summer, culture, movement, and artistic spirit, evoking a welcoming, inspiring atmosphere reflecting the festival's international character, rather than relying on literal musical symbols (e.g. treble clefs, keyboards) as the primary concept.
Categories
- Graphic
- Poster
- Design
- Visual Arts
- Digital
Eligibility
- Open to participants of any nationality, aged 16 and older
- Open to participants of any experience level, amateur or professional
- Submissions must be individual; collaborative or collective works are not permitted
- Each participant may submit a maximum of one design
- Submissions must be made under the participant's own name; pseudonyms are not accepted
- Submitted work must be original and unpublished
- Work already awarded or pending resolution in other competitions, contests, or calls will not be accepted
Program Benefits & Awards
- Professional Jury Winner: €450 and a diploma
- Professional Jury Winner: design used for promotion of the new AMADEUS Festival Vienna edition, with the winner's name credited on printed and digital materials
- Professional Jury Winner: a double ticket to the Opening Gala of the new AMADEUS Festival Vienna edition
- Public Jury Winner (most social media engagement): €50 and a diploma, sponsored by La Vienisima
- Public Jury Winner: a double ticket to the Opening Gala of the new AMADEUS Festival Vienna edition
- Special Award from La Vienisima, for the artwork best aligning with its mission of promoting diversity, equality, and activism: €250
- Three Special Mentions, each with a diploma
Application Fee
None
Application Requirements
- Poster design in PDF format
- Adjusted to A1 size, 84.1 x 59.4 cm (7016 x 9963 pixels), 300 dpi
- Colour space: CMYK and RGB
- Orientation: vertical (portrait) only
- Must include the date of the 2027 Festival: 01–04.07.2027
- Must include the festival logo (version provided in the application form or via the link supplied in the source)
- File must be titled in the format: LAST NAME_NAME_POSTERTITLE
- Submitted electronically via the specified Google Form
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 9 October 2026
- Award Resolution Published: within a maximum of 15 calendar days from the end of the participation period
Location
Vienna, Austria
Additional Details
- Judging follows a three-stage Professional Jury process: an initial base-criteria review (Longlist to Shortlist), independent individual selection by each jury member (Shortlist to Individual Selection), and a final collaborative discussion to determine the winning design (Collective Discussion).
- A separate Public Jury operates via social media, where designs are exhibited with the participant's full name and country of origin; designs with the most "likes" and positive interactions receive a special mention. The organization is not responsible for potential social media censorship of participating works, and designs considered to violate legislation will not be published.
- The prize may be declared void if too few designs are submitted or if the jury determines none meet the criteria; the jury's decision is final, and no prize may be split between two works of equal quality (no ex aequo).
- Submitted designs become part of the AMADEUS Festival Vienna archive for at least two years; participants authorize reproduction, distribution, and public communication of their images. This authorization is non-exclusive except for the Professional Jury's winning design, for which AMADEUS Festival Vienna obtains exclusive rights of use, reproduction, distribution, communication, and adaptation.
- Winners must respond to confirm acceptance within five calendar days of notification, or the prize transfers to the next selected design.
- Prize amounts are paid by bank transfer; diplomas are sent digitally.
- Participant data is processed in accordance with EU data protection regulations, for purposes of contest participation and prize management; participants may exercise rights of access, rectification, cancellation, and opposition by contacting info@amadeusfestival.wien.
- The organisation reserves the right to exclude participants for fraudulent registration or participation, content violating rights or public order, third-party IP infringement, or breach of the rules, and may declare the prize deserted at its discretion.