Salzburg may be the home of Mozart and The Sound of Music, but the hills have been alive with the sound of football supporters over the past fortnight, as UEFA EURO 2008™ came to town.

Fan Zones
Greece fans were out in force, as the defending champions played all of their group games here, while there was also a massive influx of fans from Sweden, Russia and Spain, their three opponents at the Stadion Salzburg Wals-Siezenheim. City spokesman Martin Roseneder said: "All the matches were really appreciated and I am sure that the next big events in Salzburg will benefit from the tournament. We have had 206,500 people in the UEFA EURO 2008™ Fan Zones, and the restaurant owners in Salzburg were also very satisfied."

'Amazing matches'
Three giant screens in the Fan Zones catered for the masses, with a huge double-sided television monitor in Residenzplatz and another screen in Kapitelplatz showing all the games. Fan Zone venue manager Askan Brehm said: "Overall, it was a lot of fun. We had three amazing matches when Austria played with many supporters watching the big screens here. We were packed every night and we extended the venue for the Austria v Germany game [played in Vienna] to take up to 25,000 people. The most amazing thing about it was that it was so peaceful and all the fans really enjoyed a good time together. Even though Austria lost the match, the supporters still partied afterwards with the German fans."

Yellow army
Brehm added: "We had a lot of Greek fans in the city, but I think most of them had bought tickets to the games up at the stadium, so they were not here in the evenings. Greece's first match against Sweden was amazing because so many Swedish supporters came to Salzburg and the whole city was yellow. That was maybe the most fascinating atmosphere and experience for the city, seeing so many supporters come down from Sweden."

Boom time
Businesses have enjoyed a boom period, with hotels in Salzburg enjoying 100 per cent occupancy on match days, while they were three-quarters full on other days, and the bars and restaurants have been heaving in the historic city centre. Roseneder said: "UEFA EURO 2008™ has been a huge celebration for Salzburg. The richness of the local scene was clearly in focus and the entertainment programme before and after the live broadcasts was a big party for Salzburg artists."

'Salzburg rocks'
Host city co-ordinator Wolfgang Weiss said: "The spirit in the city was excellent over the past two weeks. Three-quarters of all visitors were local, together with thousands of football fans from Greece, Sweden, Russia, Spain and other European countries. We had a very high proportion of women visitors, as they accounted for 45 per cent of the total. We can say that UEFA EURO 2008™ was a fantastic event. Salzburg rocks!"