VIENNA, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The plans for the seventh "Festival of Joy" which will be held here on May 8 to mark the 74th anniversary of the complete surrender of the Nazi German army was revealed on Monday.
The surrender in 1945 heralded the end of the Second World War. Organiser the Mauthausen Committee Austria revealed that the Heldenplatz in the city centre will again play host.
Proceedings will include statements from Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, officials from nations who were part of the forces that liberated Austria, and members of the Austrian Jewish community.
Holocaust survivor and Vienna native Shaul Spielmann will also be giving a speech at the event. Spielmann was apprehended by the Nazis in 1942 and first taken to the Theresienstadt Ghetto concentration camp, before being transported to numerous others, including Auschwitz-Birkenau and Mauthausen, before being freed by U.S. forces at the Gunskirchen concentration camp.
The Vienna Symphony orchestra will again be providing a free open air concert for those in attendance.
The well-known Austrian singer Conchita Wurst (birth name Thomas Neuwirth) will close out the evening by singing Ludwig van Beethoven's "Ode to Joy."
