Vienna Tourist Board Goes Vertical on Biggest Temporary Structure Ever Built in Trafalgar Square

LONDON, October 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Daring performers from Vienna will today defy gravity to perform a horizontal public show on a 21m (69ft) vertical stage, the tallest temporary structure ever built in Trafalgar Square.

Icons of Vienna - and Londoners' perceptions of the Austrian city - will be literally turned on their side as part of a two-day event held by the Vienna Tourist Board to encourage Londoners to see "Vienna from a different angle".

The spectacular aerobatics show will play on the wall in front of Nelson's Column four times daily, at 1pm, 3:30pm, 5:30pm and 7pm, a daring celebration of traditional and modern Viennese culture while suspended in the air.

Mixing art, sound, lights and adventurous aerial displays, the show takes inspiration from Vienna's modern music scene, Imperial heritage, iconic artist Gustav Kilmt, indulgent food and wine scene, and the Viennese waltz.

In between shows, there is also a chance for the public to take a spine-tingling horizontal stroll down the wall - face first! - defying gravity through specially developed climbing harnesses.

The free event runs from 12:30pm to 8:30pm today and tomorrow, Wednesday October 26.

All the action occurs under the careful guidance of a team of highly-trained safety professionals led by Jochen Schweizer - a record-breaking daredevil who still holds the record for the world's highest bungie jump.

The Vienna Tourist Board is also offering a VIP trip to Vienna for those who take the most memorable photograph or video of the 'Vienna from a Different Angle' event.

Images and videos can be uploaded on http://www.vienna.info/vertical or http://www.facebook.com/ViennaTouristBoard.

The lucky competition prize winner and a partner will be treated to a 4* hotel for two nights with dinner and for those who dare, a free bungee jump from the Donauturn - Austria's tallest building.

Getty Images photography of the performance will be available from approximately midday, Tuesday October 25.

http://www.vienna.info, http://b2b.vienna.info, http://www.twitter.com/ViennaInfoB2B

Note to Editors

Vienna marketing with special effects

For selected key markets - like the United Kingdom, which last year ranked seventh in Vienna's top ten markets with 373,000 bed nights - the Vienna Tourist Board has developed a format that is deployed alongside its routine campaigns: Spectacular promotions are staged at central public sites in cities.

The premiere of such an event took place in London in 2010 with a 3D projection of exciting scenes from Vienna complete with background music, followed this year by 3D projections on well-known buildings in Milan, Rome and Warsaw.

An art guide showed passers-by round a picture gallery set up in the Metro station of St. Lazare in Paris with paintings the originals of which hang in Vienna; in Moscow and Bucharest an interactive Vienna walk was staged where passers-by were filmed and copied into typical Vienna scenes and then projected onto large displays.

Also, a "Waltz Course - next generation" was set up in Barcelona, Prague and Zurich where an interactive touchscreen on the floor showed the right dance steps, reacting to the movements and speed of each dancing couple.

The next marketing event is about to take place at the beginning of November when a triangular building in Berlin will be transformed into a slice of Sacher chocolate torte.