Austrian National Tourist Office is poised for celebrations in 2025 to mark the 60th anniversary of the timeless film, The Sound of Music, released in 1965. Karryon joined tourism board officials and one of the film’s actors to find out what Salzburg has planned for worldwide fans… which includes a new dedicated museum.
The Hills (Surry Hills) were alive last week with The Sound of Music as tourism officials from Austrian National Tourist Office, Salzburg State Tourist Board and Salzburg Tourist Board hosted a select group of media and travel advisors at Golden Age Cinema and Bar.
Special guest for the evening was actor Nicholas Hammond, who played Friedrich von Trapp (the second eldest child) in the blockbuster film.
Guests were treated to more than tea with jam and bread, as we experienced true Austrian ‘Lebensgefühl’ which included pink lemonade, schnitzel and of course, crisp apple strudel.
Astrid Gruchmann-Licht was in attendance from Austria; while Lilly Freudmayer, Austrian National Tourist Office Market Representative Australia and Southeast Asia had journeyed from Dubai to host the event. Both women, along with Ulrike Straka, the current Commercial Counselor for the Austrian Embassy Commercial Section in Sydney, wore traditional Austrian dirndls.
This girl (or girl at heart!) scribe wore a white dress with a blue satin sash in honour of the event – but it was a hot spring Sydney day so not a snowflake was in sight for my nose and eyelashes.
Somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good to end up at this small and intimate soiree. On my first trip to Europe in my early 20s, Salzburg was on my itinerary as The Sound of Music had been such a big part of my childhood. My late father had the original vinyl soundtrack (sadly sold for nix at a garage sale in the 90s). In Salzburg, I boarded The Sound of Music bus tour (still going strong, Astrid tells us) and also wandered many of the famous sites including the Mirabell Palace Gardens.
To learn more, we all head into the theatre….
Nicholas Hammond recounts his experiences
After some mingling amid original posters and photographs of the real Von Trapp family, guests are seated in the small theatre for an official presentation.
The presentation delved into the enduring impact of The Sound of Music which has been estimated to be viewed by more than one billion people around the globe.
Astrid Gruchmann-Licht, who was the Founding Director of the Austrian National Tourist Office in Australia for 32 years, is now thrilled to be consulting from her home state of Salzburg to the Salzburg State Board of Tourism.
“Sixty years of The Sound of Music, obviously for us Salzburgers, is a big deal. And I was asked, along with a team, to look at both the offering of Salzburg for next year and also where we roll this out globally. So we started in New York, last week, then Washington, Chicago and today, here in Sydney,” said Gruchmann-Licht.
They presented a world premiere at the Sydney gathering, utlising footage that Hammond’s mother had filmed behind the scenes while on location in Salzburg.
“This footage, as you can imagine, is incredibly special, and Nicholas was kind enough to give it to us, to create something that we hope you enjoy. We think it’s quite touching. And the idea was for us to bring Nicholas back to Salzburg and for him to see the Salzburg of today,” she said.
In the film which showed Hammond recently on location back in Salzburg, he shared how the mountain scene where Maria picnics with the children and sings Do-Re-Mi almost couldn’t happen due to bad weather. But they had one 20-minute break and in the stuff of Hollywood legend, the scene was filmed in great haste.
“We all ran out there, put down the picnic blanket. Julie got her guitar and bang, we shot the scene,” Hammond says in the film.
The pair discussed what continues to resonate about the film universally and how Salzburg feels like a second home to Hammond.
“It’s not many times you can actually go somewhere and you are immediately back to being 13 years old again, and all the people you knew then – and some of them are no longer here, but it comes alive again. So it is very emotional and I do love it. I will always be grateful for having been there to Salzburg and it is like a second home,” said Hammond.
Highlights of Salzburg activities and events to celebrate The Sound of Music in 2025
- February: Salzburg Museum Guest Performance ‘Sound of Music Salzburg – Insight and Outlook’. Starting 6 February, The Sound of Music year-round exhibition is set to open at Schloss Leopoldskron.
Curated by the Salzburg Museum, this exhibition is a prelude to a new permanent museum dedicated to the Trapp Family and The Sound of Music, set to open in 2026. The new museum, Sound of Music Salzburg, will be located at Schloss Hellbrunn — one of Salzburg’s most beautiful locations.
- Spring: The Sound of Music Trail with narration by Filmkind Friedrich and The Sound of Music Free Walking Tour in Salzburg. About 40 kilometres south of Salzburg, in the town of Werfen, lies the popular The Sound of Music Trail. This scenic 1.4-kilometre path takes you through to the Gschwandt Anger picnic plateau — the only filming spot within the inner Alps.
It’s here that Maria, played by Julie Andrews (as mentioned by Hammond above) taught the children the famous Do-Re-Mi. Starting in spring 2025, you can experience the trail with a narrated audio tour on the free SmartGuide app. The stories and behind-the-scenes moments will be shared on the audio by Nicholas Hammond.
- October: Grand anniversary week with symposium and gala event. The Sound of Music anniversary week begins on 23 October 2025, with a symposium at the exclusive Schloss Leopoldskron.
On the evening of 23 October 2025, the exclusive The Sound of Music Gala, themed Salzburg & the World, will light up Salzburg’s Felsenreitschule, with performances by the Salzburg State Theatre and music by the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg. Special guests will include original cast members from the film and members of the Trapp Family.
Austria Tourism is also excited about other, non-related events in 2025 in other parts of the country, including the 200 year celebrations in Vienna of the birth of Johann Strauss.
Meanwhile, The MICHELIN Guide is partnering with the Austrian National Tourist Office and eight Austrian regional tourism associations for the launch of a new national Austrian selection.
For more information visit austria.info and salzburg.info
