The Story of Jazz – Open Air Summer Festival takes place on June 25 in Vienna. For the sixth time, the small but fine jazz festival presents itself at the Viennese Metropol, which is conceived like the festivals once were in Newport, Nice, and Montreux. The motto is "The Austrian High Flight" and demonstrates how Austria achieved a top position in the international jazz scene. With big names and rising newcomers from Austria, America, and around the world, the festival presents vocal and instrumental music in a variety of different line-ups, bands & acts.

The festival takes place from June 25 to 28, 2026 at the Viennese Metropol. The Metropol is located in the 17th district in a historic building of a former suburban mill and is a popular venue for music, cabaret, and theater, where renowned national and international artists perform regularly. The Pawlatschen stage in the garden was founded around the turn of the century and is probably the last original stage of that era in the Viennese suburbs.

Kurt Prohaska is a jazz pianist from Vienna and a devoted follower of the great Hank Jones, who was his friend, teacher, and mentor. Prohaska admires Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, and Dizzy Gillespie and presents music with his trio ranging from swing through bebop to the post-bop era. The Story of Jazz is a multi-part concert project about the most important epochs, styles, developments, personalities, and aspects of over 120 years of jazz history.