FAQ

When is the festival?

The Ars Electronica Festival takes place once a year in early September in Linz, Austria. The date for 2016 with the theme RADICAL ATOMS will be from THU September 8 to MON September 12, 2016.

Tickets?

You can order your tickets online via ars.electronica.art/radicalatoms/en/tickets. Of course, there’s the option of purchasing tickets during the Ars Electronica Festival (September 8-12, 2016) right on site at the box office during the respective business hours each day of the festival. In addition to festival passes admitting the holder to all events staged on all five days, Ars Electronica also offers single-day passes, u19 – CREATE YOUR WORLD passes, and tickets to individual events (symposia, forums, concerts). Under certain conditions, these tickets are made available at a discount. There is not a limited contingent of festival passes.

When will the festival program be published?

The festival theme was announced in April 2016. The festival website is continuously updated with the programming information.

Special group programs?

Ars Electronica’s WE GUIDE YOU is pleased to offer customized activity programs and guided tours for large groups. Please contact us directly to discuss the details! festival@aec.at

Invitation Letter

If you need a letter of invitation in order to obtain a visa or for confirmation purposes in your dealings with public institutions, please contact us directly via e-mail: festival@aec.at

Arrival

All festival locations either can be reached via public transport (tramlines 1, 2, 3, 3*, LINZ AG), bus or train (ÖBB, Westbahn, OÖVV), bicycle or are in walking distance (approx. 30 min).

Visitors with a purchised festival pass ride at all Linz AG lines during the festival period (8th – 12th September, 2016) for free. Many thanks to Linz AG.

Choose your way to the POSTCITY in Linz:

• By train: Arrival via ÖBB or Westbahn to station Linz Hauptbahnhof (main railway station). The POSTCITY is located right beside the railway station.
• By bus: Long-distance busses either stop in front of the Wissensturm (opposite the main railway station) or at the Bahnhofplatz (station square) and are in walking distance to the POSTCITY.
• By car: You reach the POSTCITY via Waldeggstraße (B 139), Linz, Austria. The address is Bahnhofplatz 11, 4020 Linz, Österreich. Please also think of the possibility to do carpooling. Find more information under klimakultur.at
• Parking: Unfortunately, there are no parking spaces at the main festival location in the POSTCITY available. Public car parks are situated in the surrounding area: Garage Bahnhof – Wissensturm Linz, Hauptbahnhof Parkdeck, Bahnhof Landesdienstleistungszentrum
• By plane: The Blue Danube Airport Linz is located in Hörsching (10 km distance to Linz). There are several possibilities to travel to Linz. If you need more information on transportation, contact: antonia.mittendrein@aec.at For some people flying to Austria/Linz is the only possibility to come to the Ars Electronica Festival. There are various ways to counteract the with flying associated CO2-dioxide-emissions. Find more information and numerous measures here: klimaohnegrenzen.at

Hotel Recommendations

If you’re looking for hotel accommodations during your stay in Linz, please visit ars.electronica.art/radicalatoms/en/hotels.

Accomodation

• Drinking water: There are free drinking-water facilities at all venues either at the sanitary areas or through the „water-tree“ of the LinzAG in the POSTCITY or by drinking water dispenser. As it’s very important to avoid waste we are asking our visitors to “bring your own bottle” for the drinking water. In case it’s not possible or if visitors forgot to bring it people can buy our brand new drinking bottles (BPA-free) at the merchandising desk or we are of course also very happy to provide reuse cups (cup-deposit 1€) available at the Infodesk.
• Food: The Ars Electronica Festival focuses on sustainability and so the visitors are able to enjoy organic-certified food suppliers who only use regional and seasonal food as well as offer vegetarian and vegan meals.
• WIFI: We offer free WIFI access in cooperation with LIWEST in all locations.
• Erste  Hilfe: First Aid Kits are located at the Info desk. Call 144 for ambulance.
• Green Event: The Ars Electronica Festival places emphasis on environmental protection and sustainability! It is taken care of separation of waste and recycling, use of local and biological products, introduce renewable energy. The aim is to reduce the resulting environmental pollution to a minimum.
• Dogs / Animals: Dogs or other animals are not allowed at the POSTCTY.
• Accessibility: The main area in the POSTCITY and the other locations are extensively accessible. However, given the rural settings, some exhibition-sites are not barrier-free accessible.
• Sanitation: All festival locations have accessible toilets and changing tables are provided in the POSTCITY.
• Lockers: Lockers are available at the Hauptbahnhof Linz in different sizes. For a fee of € 2 to € 3,50 lockers can be rented for 24 hours.

Rent a Room

Have you ever considered staging your own private get-together amidst the inspiring ambience of Ars Electronica? The Festival provides the perfect setting for an impressive business meeting or social event! At the Ars Electronica Center, you can reserve a 30-90-m2 room for 3 hours. Standard furnishings: Table, seating for 10, beamer, flip-chart, internet; additional infrastructure available on request. Price: €100 for 3 hours. For details and to make reservations, please e-mail us at hospitality@aec.at.

Green Event – Measures 2016

The 2016 Ars Electronica Festival is organized as an environmental and climate-friendly event with the active support of the Climate Alliance Upper Austria. Different measures in the areas of food, mobility, waste management and social affairs are set and realized. The responsibility which involves from these measures (PDF file) require commitment not only from us as organizers but also from our visitors.

Photographic/Video recordings

By entering the exhibitions and/or taking part in events at the 2016 Ars Electronica Festival, you tacitly consent to any and all photographic and video recordings on which you are recognizable. By entering the exhibitions and/or taking part in events at the 2016 Ars Electronica Festival, you also tacitly and irrevocably consent to the use (in particular, publication, dissemination and utilization for advertising purposes) of any such photographic and video recordings by the Festival organizer and/or partner organizations in radio, television, print media, books, catalogs and photo-mechanical forms of duplication, etc. (film, DVD, Blu-Ray, etc.) without claim to compensation.

Contact

Do you have any further questions? We’d love to hear from you festival@aec.at

When is the festival?

The Ars Electronica Festival takes place once a year in early September in Linz, Austria. The date for 2016 with the theme RADICAL ATOMS will be from THU September 8 to MON September 12, 2016.

Open Call?

The festival has no open call. All substantive programming decisions are reached by the artistic directorial staff in accordance with the theme of the particular year’s festival.

Nevertheless, how can I propose my project?

There are two ways to propose projects to be presented at Ars Electronica:

• Submitting your project for Prix Ars Electronica prize consideration. Entries to the competition for the world’s most renowned prize in media art make up the most important project pool for exhibitions, performances and events at the Ars Electronica Festival. Submission information is available online at ars.electronica.art/prix! By the way: Even projects that emerge empty-handed from the Prix Ars Electronica judging are sometimes showcased at the festival. We strongly recommend submitting your project to the Prix Ars Electronica.
• Sending in your project information. If you’re not interested in entering your project in a Prix Ars Electronica category or your project isn’t really suitable for submission, you can send an e-mail describing your work to the address given below.

Contact

Are you an artist who’d like to get in touch with us? Tina Reinthaler (tina.reinthaler@aec.at or +43/732/7272/783) would be pleased to answer your questions.

Are you interested in joining the festival crew?

In order to produce the many ambitious projects that are staged every September in Linz at the Ars Electronica Festival, we augment our staff every summer. We’re looking for project managers, project assistants, technicians and guides. By the way—we’re also always looking for technicians with skills in the following areas who are available from mid-August to mid-September: media technicians, audio/video/lighting technicians, carpenters, machinists, electrical technicians.

How do you apply?

Please check out Ars Electronica Linz GmbH’s help-wanted listings at ars.electronica.art/jobs! If there’s no current opening in your line of work, please submit an application that we can keep on file for future reference. The best way to do that is via e-mail to our personnel department (jobs@aec.at)!

Application deadlines?

We’re happy to accept applications throughout the year. Depending on the line of work, the prime time for filing an application is between February and May. Application deadlines for particular job openings are specified at ars.electronica.art/jobs!

Infotrainer?

If you’re interested in getting a behind-the-scenes look at the festival and being an active part of what’s going on, then you’ve come to the right place! We’re looking for staff members to help provide assistance, guidance and information to visitors during the festival. Please submit your application directly to veronika.liebl@aec.at!

Contact

Are you interested in working at the Ars Electronica Festival? Would you like to get in touch with us and find out more? Veronika Liebl (veronika.liebl@aec.at or +43/732/7272/74) would be pleased to answer your questions.

Do you need information for a scholarly work?

Ars Electronica has amassed one of the world’s largest archives about digital media art over the last 30 years. In addition to all Ars Electronica publications since 1979, it includes a comprehensive database with information about all submissions to the Prix Ars Electronica competition. To access the websites of prior festivals, go to ars.electronica.art/festival/archiv.

Publications

You can browse our publications in our online archive. Our publications are distributed by Hatje Cantz, and are available on site at the Ars Electronica Center as well as online at Amazon.de.