Kössen Paragliding Testival 2026 kicks off

The legendary Austrian venue of Kössen is preparing to host its famous paragliding testival, which runs 4 to 7 June. With dozens of manufacturers attending and a weather forecast that looks flyable most days it’s the ideal place to check out the latest wings, harnesses and accessories. The pilots’ bar will be serving endless rounds of coffee, organic soft drinks, beer and food, from curries to local Austrian bratwurst.

“There’s no other place in Europe like it,” says event organiser and owner of the Fly Kössen flight school Leo Dagn. “The landing is the size of a football field, you can just walk over, hop on a lift and do several rounds a day. The acro pilots do 14 or 15 flights a day. For comparing wings it’s a really great spot and a great opportunity to test similar gliders from different brands.”

He said the weather was looking up too, with it definitely flyable on Thursday, a 50% chance it’s flyable on Friday while Saturday and Sunday morning were looking good to fly as well. So far there were 27 manufacturers and 450 pilots registered for the event. Although registration was full for the first few days, there were still places open on Sunday.

Fly Kössen is the oldest flying school in Europe and was the first host of the Hang Gliding World Championships in 1976.

There’s a big grassy take-off next to the lift, mountains galore with reliable thermals ready to take you to cloudbase. There are two large landing fields with the main one situated next to the school’s famous Pilot Bar.

The testival was originally set up by Sepp Himberger who ran the flying school. This is the first year that Leo has taken it over. “I’m really looking forward to welcoming everyone,” he says. “It’s going to be great.”

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