Austrian Culinary Culture

Graz

Enjoyment and the sciences,
southern serenity, recognised greatness

Graz, Austria’s most southern city, has an almost Mediterranean ambience, with the natural world flourishing right into the green centre. Nowhere else has more farmers’ markets, nowhere else is the importance of fine food greater than in Austria’s gourmet capital. The delicious ingredients come from the Styrian Apple Road, the vast pumpkin fields and the surrounding vineyards. This is an ideal place for a leisurely stroll in the shade of the clock tower, high above the UNESCO World Heritage city, in the footsteps of Archduke Johann (1782-1859), the “Styrian prince”, who has gone down in history as the “green rebel”.

Graz is both rich in tradition and forward-looking, keeping up with the times and avant-garde trends. Home to Austria’s second oldest university, which was founded in 1585 and now has 60,000 students, it has belonged since 2011, as City of Design, to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Graz has maintained its pioneering role over the centuries – in art and music, research and development, industry and science. Medicine, architecture, mining and metallurgy are at home here, together with global players in vehicle construction, aerospace engineering and automation. In 1906, Graz hosted Austria’s first international trade fair, and 1885 saw the opening of Congress Graz, with the still acclaimed Stefaniensaal.

Graz is multifaceted – full of lightness and esprit, but with depth and substance, like a good wine: stimulating and inspiring.

Congress Graz

Places big enough for your ideas

Messe Congress Graz

44 multifunctional rooms for meetings, conferences and congresses, balls and concerts, the most modern multifunctional hall in Austria and seven expo halls – that’s how large the range of facilities offered by Messe Congress Graz Betriebsgesellschaft m.b.H really is. Several venues – Congress Graz, Stadthalle Graz, Messecongress Graz, Messe Graz and sports arenas have been united under the MCG umbrella brand. The events staged are as diverse as the venues. It is not uncommon for several trade fairs to be held parallel to football games, classical music concerts, international congresses and excellent shows – that’s MCG. www.mcg.at

Congress, conference and meeting venues in Graz

STILL MAKING HISTORY

Congress Graz offers 19 rooms with floor spaces between 44m² and 640m² in an ideal inner city location. Steeped in history and fitted with state-of-the-art equipment it is an ideal stage for congresses, conferences and meetings, festivals, balls, galas, corporate celebrations, exhibitions and trade fairs. The facilities can accommodate up to 2,300 guests.

In terms of knowledge transfer, Congress Graz has a multifunctional relative in the MCG family in the shape of Messecongress Graz, where up to 3,000 guests can meet up in a wide range of event formats. Knowledge, networking and progress are buzzwords that fit perfectly to the 25 ultra-modern meeting rooms.

Room plans, capacities and information

DARE TO DREAM A LITTLE BIGGER

Stadthalle Graz is connected to Messecongress and offers 6,500 m² of pillar-free event space for up to 14,520 visitors. World stars such as Linkin Park, Volbeat and Bryan Adams have already filled this hall with music and fans. Since the equipment and infrastructure of the hall is mobile, it can be transformed into a concert arena, sports stadium, TV show studio, trade fair hall, gala venue and dancehall, and used as a location for congresses, conferences and meetings.

Stadthalle Graz is a popular choice of venue when mcg stages its own fairs. Around 15 fairs are held on the grounds of Messe Graz every year; one example being the Grazer Herbstmesse (Graz Autumn Fair) – the largest public access fair in southern Austria. The exhibition complex has 7 halls and 4 outdoor spaces offering a total of 40,000 m² of expo space for up to 75,000 visitors.

Room plans, capacities and information