DAfter a two-year Corona break, the Vienna Opera Ball is to take place on February 16, 2023 with a new charity concept. As the organizers announced on Sunday, this time ten percent of the ticket income will go to aid organizations that support people in Austria. Donations are also to be financed with the gastronomic turnover.
Opera director Bogdan Roščić said that the ball, which attracts prominent figures from culture, politics and business, cannot go on like it has in the past: “In a situation like the current one, the State Opera must show solidarity with those people who do not have the privilege a glittering ball night.” Ticket sales begin on Monday.
Every year there were protests because of the Opera Ball in Vienna. For the organizers, the ball is a symbol of the unequal distribution of wealth.
Without the Opera Ball, the Austrian capital lost an integral part of social life. At the same time a tourist magnet and a significant economic factor: According to calculations by the Chamber of Commerce, in the year before the outbreak of the pandemic, sales of 151 million euros were generated by the 520,000 ball visitors.
An integral part of social life
“As long as the number of cases is high, reliable, quick and inexpensive tests and/or a vaccination are not available, the organizers consider the implementation of a ball to be irresponsible,” it said at the time.
In addition, the Opera Ball not only a social, but also a media event of the highest rank. Around 1.5 million viewers follow the broadcast on ORF every year.
Attention regularly attracts the Contractor Richard Lugner draws attention to the event and himself by inviting one person to his lodge every year. In 2020, it was Kim Kardashian, among others, who sat in the entrepreneur’s box.
Vienna Opera Ball in pictures
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In the future there will be dancing for a good cause
There is usually a strict dress code at the big balls. It reads tails for men, possibly tuxedos, and long dresses for women.
In addition to the public ones, there are numerous private balls for which you can only register by personal invitation. The ball of the St. Johanns Club, an aristocratic event, is considered the most elegant. The TC Ball of the Techniker-Cercle takes place in the Musikverein, the Szent István Ball in the Hungarian Embassy.