Graz punches well above its weight when it comes to creative culture. As Austria's second-largest city and a UNESCO City of Design, it has a genuinely thriving scene built around design, architecture, and the arts.
With a large student population, a string of festivals, and a compact city centre that makes running into people easy, connecting with other creatives here is more straightforward than you might expect.
Whether you're a designer, illustrator, filmmaker, or working in any creative field, this guide will help you find your people in the city. From casual meetups to vibrant community events,
Graz
offers countless opportunities to connect, collaborate, and get inspired.
Creative Lunch Club is a global community for people working in the creative industries. Whether you are a graphic designer, a photographer, a marketer, or a filmmaker, the Creative Lunch Club gives you the chance to regularly meet other creatives in your city for lunch.
Illustration Ladies is an international community for female and non-binary illustrators, creating space for connection, support, and visibility through meetups, drawing sessions, and workshops. It’s a space to share ideas, grow creatively, and support each other in an often isolating industry.
Spacelend is Graz's largest coworking space, with 1,400m² across two levels in an industrial-style building in the Lend district. Beyond flexible desks and private offices, it has a sauna, fitness facilities, and a kitchen, making it one of the better-equipped creative work hubs in the city.
Der Steirer is a laid-back restaurant near the old town serving a modern take on traditional Styrian cuisine, from Backhendl with pumpkin seed oil salad to slow-cooked roast pork. It's one of those spots where locals actually eat, open daily from 11am to midnight.
Kunsthaus Graz is a contemporary art museum in a biomorphic blue structure nicknamed the Friendly Alien, designed by Peter Cook and Colin Fournier for Graz's year as European Capital of Culture in 2003. It hosts a changing program of exhibitions focused on international contemporary art, design, and new media.
Aiola Upstairs is a restaurant and bar on top of the Schlossberg, accessible by funicular or glass elevator, with sweeping views over Graz's red rooftops and the surrounding hills. Glass fronts fold away entirely in warm weather, merging the terrace and indoor space into one. Go for sunset.
Tash Living is a concept store and design studio at Hofgasse 7 in Graz's old town, combining interior design objects, lifestyle products, stationery, and design gifts with a platform for emerging local designers. It's part of Graz's official UNESCO City of Design places map.
Designmonat Graz is a citywide celebration of design packed with exhibitions, talks and workshops, mixing international perspectives with local talent. Recent editions explored “The New Real,” looking at creativity in the age of AI.
The best way to meet other creatives in
Graz
is to show up consistently somewhere rather than hoping a one-off networking event leads somewhere.
Creative Lunch Clubis a good starting point and a great way to meet other creatives: you get matched with a small group of creatives for lunch, which is a much more natural way to actually get to know people.
Graz
has a growing number of communities for creatives, from global networks like
Creative Lunch Clubto local meetup groups and coworking communities. The best place to start is joining a community that meets regularly, so you build real relationships over time rather than just collecting contacts at one-off events.
Graz
has a range of events throughout the year where creatives meet, from industry conferences to informal gatherings. That said, traditional networking events can feel forced. Many creatives prefer more relaxed formats like
Creative Lunch Club, where you meet people over lunch rather than awkward small talk with a name badge.
A good starting point is
Creative Lunch Club, which runs regular meetups for designers and other creatives in
Graz
. Beyond that, keep an eye on local design communities, Instagram, and event platforms for one-off gatherings tied to conferences or design weeks.
Designers tend to gravitate toward independent cafés, creative coworking spaces, and community events. Online, local design groups and communities like
Creative Lunch Club, are where a lot of the conversation happens and where lunches and meetups get organized.
Show up consistently. The creative scene in
Graz
is more accessible than it looks, most people are open to meeting others, especially in a low-pressure setting. Joining a community like
Creative Lunch Clubis one of the easiest ways in, since you're introduced to a small group of people rather than thrown into a room of strangers.
Freelancers make up a big part of Creative Lunch Club's members in
Graz
. It's a natural fit since freelancing can be isolating and lunch is an easy, low-commitment way to meet people. Coworking spaces are another good bet.
There are plenty of events for creatives in
Graz
, ranging from design conferences and film festivals to photography exhibitions and music events. For regular, ongoing connection rather than one-off events, Creative Lunch Club runs monthly meetups in
Graz
year round.
I love Creative Lunch Club because it harnesses the most human way of connecting, sharing a meal. It's an effortless way for creatives to build diverse connections and friendships across various fields and meet people they wouldn't otherwise.
Creative Lunch Club is a great way to get off your ass, meet random creatives, and share a meal. Perfect for getting inspiration, energy, and a different angle on things.
Everything about Creative Lunch Club makes me happy - the concept, the people and the vibe. It is such a fun way of getting to meet like-minded people and make new friends in your city!
