The festival opens at 12:00 midday with the unveiling of the Commemorative Plaque at the Hotel Johann Strauss. The ceremony will be presided over by Dr Susanne Reichard, the Mayor of the 4th district of Vienna.

After the ceremony there will be a toast at the hotel accompanied by a concert of music from the period when Fleischmann lived in Favoritenstrasse between 1934 and 1938.

The events next move on to the Residence of the British Ambassador. His Excellency John Macgregor will host a reception for invited guests at 12:45. The reception begins with a talk to be given by the eminent art historian Dr Philip Ward-Jackson and entitled "Pioneering Art for the Community - Vienna and London 1930-1960".

On 6th June the emphasis moves to Bratislava.

At 16:30 guests are invited to view the Museum Arthur Fleischmann at 6, Biela Ulice. The curator Dr Zuzanna Francova will be at the museum to give tour and answer questions.

At 18:00 Mayor Durkovsky will host a concert for invited guests in the Mirror Hall of the Primacial Palace in the historical centre of Bratislava. Pieces will be played by Ivan Palovic and Jordana Palovic and other members of the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra. The concert will be followed by refreshments that will be generously provided by Tesco plc. After this there will be a short video presentation recounting the events of the opening of the Arthur Fleischmann Museum in Biela Ulice that took place in November 2002. Next, we are delighted to announce that the long-awaited documentary on Arthur Fleischmann by Pierre Haneuse will have its first screening. The musical programme will continue with "The Sea in Springtime" by Ikebe Shin-ichiro, a duet for Japanese Koto and Viola to be played by Hiroko Sue and Ivan Palovic. The finale of the evening will be a recital of the composition "Orbits" written and performed by Hiroko Sue. "Orbits" was inspired by Fleischmann's water sculpture of the same name. The recital will be accompanied by a "film collage" created by Sally Titterington.

On 7th June there will be a series of tours of the Arthur Fleischmann Museum and an informal concert by Hiroko Sue in the courtyard of the Museum in Biela Ulice.

The festival is a perfect opportunity to spend a long weekend in central Europe. The events take place in different countries, but the cities of Vienna and Bratislava are only 100km apart. You may want to consider staying in Bratislava for the whole weekend and making day trips to Vienna for the Plaque ceremony.

The airline SkyEurope fly direct from Stanstead to Bratislava but the times of flights are quite antisocial! For flights at more civilized hours and from more places, please see British Airways.

If you are planning on travelling to Vienna from Peague by train, then you may be interested to look at Czech Rail Timetables.

There is also a very cool site here bursting with useful information for travellers in Europe.

The journey between Vienna and Bratislava is in fact rather interesting. You can take the coach , the train or a boat along the Danube. I believe there is also a hydrofoil for those in search of excitement!

Bratislava: There are many hotels in Bratislava. We have stayed in the Danube Hotel, the Devin Hotel, the Tatra Hotel, the Kiev Hotel and there are limited opportunities to 'rough it' with friends if your budget is very stretched. For general information, try looking here. There are many cheap Pensiones in Bratislava too, but you'll have to search around.

Vienna: For hotels in Vienna, you need look no further than the Hotel Johann Strauss iteslf. But be quick as they are getting booked up quickly. The owner Mattias Heismayer is offering a discount for members of the Fleischmann party.