Today, Friday, in the Austrian capital Vienna, the "Danube Island" festival commenced, the largest outdoor festival in Europe. The festival lasts for three days and features around 700 hours of musical, artistic, cultural, and sports performances, with participation from famous musical groups and several top Austrian and international artists. This annual Austrian festival, held for the forty-first time, is one of the most important summer events in Europe and offers a variety of free programs involving about a thousand Austrian and international artists across 14 stages, extending 4.5 kilometers along the banks of the Danube River. Many television stations broadcast various concerts of the festival, which was attended by around three million people last year.