The calendar of the Viennese ball season is filled with more than 450 balls. The Vienna Opera Ball is the most glamourous of them all, and thanks to TV broadcasting, it reaches an audience of millions at home and abroad. Anyone who cannot celebrate on-site with the 5,150 ball guests can enjoy the opening ceremony, music, dance, and interviews on TV.

High point of the ball season

The Vienna Opera Ball is a big musical celebration at the end of Shrovetide, which combines high culture and entertainment. The committee, consisting of approximately 150 pairs of young men and women in white ball gowns and tails, ensures a glamorous opening of the Opera Ball.

51-hour set-up

For the ball preparations, the Vienna State Opera, which otherwise presents performances daily, halts its performances two evenings before the Opera Ball. The set-up of the audience area in the ballroom is completed in about 30 hours. The seats must be removed and the parquet floor laid, and a sea of flowers is added: 650 arrangements and bouquets of thousands of flowers and plants decorate loges, tables, and walls. Transforming the ballroom back into the opera stage takes a further 21 hours - a marathon job for more than 500 people.

Program of the event

• 20:40: Admission of the ball guests (Note the dress code! Ladies: long evening dress, Gentlemen: black tails)
• 22:00: Opera Ball opening (duration: approx. 50 minutes):
  - Fanfare, Austrian National Anthem, European Anthem
  - Procession of the committee of young men and women
  - Artistic performances by the Vienna State Opera
  - Opening waltzes: The Blue Danube Waltz
• 24:00: Midnight quadrille
• 2:00 and 4:00: Quadrille
• 5.00 End of the Opera Ball

Approximately 150 musicians in eight different areas create a wonderful atmosphere. More up-to-date sounds also supplement the waltzes, and offer a wonderful dancing experience for all tastes into the early hours.

Vienna Opera Ball

February 8, 2024
Information, reservations, tickets: www.wiener-staatsoper.at