Confectioners, coffee house owners, the Vienna Philharmonic: they all host their own ball and invite Vienna to dance. At this time of year the dance schools are busy, the waltz step gets its final polish, and a proper hand kiss has to be practised too. Every January and February, Vienna is taken up with its traditional balls. Speaking of tradition, the Hunters’ Ball deserves a mention: it is the evening when many a Viennese woman brings out her finest dirndl and her partner his traditional dinner jacket.
The ball season reaches its climax with the Opera Ball, when the State Opera is turned into a ballroom once a year. Those who are not there dress up at home and raise a glass in front of the television, and half of Austria follows the gowns on the red carpet and the grand staircase. After the first dances and an expensive glass of champagne, the queue at the sausage stand behind the Opera starts to grow. The first ball guests fortify themselves the Viennese way, with a Käsekrainer cut into small pieces on a paper plate and eaten, most elegantly, with a little plastic fork. That leaves room in the budget for a second glass of champagne, and there is always something to watch at the sausage stand, which the Viennese love.
We wish you a wonderful ball season and look forward to the famous call of “Alles Walzer!”, everybody waltz. Which balls we like best and how to get tickets, we reveal in our Vienna tips for the balls.
