Positive balance

Noticeable “wow effect”: Tangente attracted visitors

Tarun Kade, Matthias Stadler, Johanna Mikl-Leitner, Thomas Pulle, Mona Jas, Marie Rötzer, Andreas Fränzl, Martha Keil and Paul Gessl took stock of the 2024 Year of Culture(Bild: NÖKU)

More overnight stays, internationally enhanced profile of the provincial capital: from the perspective of those responsible, the 2024 cultural year in St. Pölten was a complete success thanks to the Tangente Festival. 

Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner and Mayor Matthias Stadler agree that St. Pölten is coming to the end of an extraordinary year of culture characterized by a new close cooperation between the city and the province. With 56,000 visitors to the Tangente Festival and 28,000 to the new Children's Art Lab and the former synagogue, the organizers have achieved a thoroughly successful result. This is because a third of the audience found their way to the state capital for the first time thanks to the diverse artistic offerings.

City profile sharpened
What remains after a cultural year of superlatives is a lively independent cultural scene and a sharpened international profile for the city. In addition to investments amounting to 70 million euros and a value added of 75 million euros (according to a study by economic researcher Christian Helmenstein), sustainable impulses have also been set and achieved. For example, the children's art laboratory and the former synagogue, the head of the state noted.

Positive effects achieved
Tourism has also been boosted: "From January to September, the number of overnight stays rose by 26.5 percent compared to the previous year," explains Stadler. Around 2000 artists were welcomed to St. Pölten during the five months of the Tangente festival. Places of encounter were brought to life. "We succeeded in creating something lasting. We have made an international impact. Everyone experienced the wow effect: mission accomplished!" says Mikl-Leitner. However, the tangent will no longer exist in the future.