If you enjoy stepping out in formal wear and dancing the night away, you'll love attending a ball during Vienna's Ball Season. The series of balls in elegant venues throughout Vienna begins with the New Years Eve Kaiserball and generally ends with pre-Lenten celebrations?in February.
The Kaiserball?(Imperial Ball)?kicks off the season?on New Year's Eve?in the?Hofburg Imperial Palace. "Hosts" Empress Sisi and Emperor Franz Joseph greet guests as they enter for a night of dining,?dancing, and entertainment. The Wiener Philharmoniker (Vienna Philharmonic) hosts its ball at the Musikverein concert hall in January. Following is the prestigious Opernball (Opera Ball) at the Staatsoper (Vienna State Opera) in February where the opera house?stage and auditorium are transformed into an enormous dance floor.
Other groups in Vienna also participate by offering their own balls, such as the Kaffeesiederball (Coffee House Owners?Ball) at the Hofburg Palace and the Rudolfina Redoute where ladies all wear?masks in the style of the operetta "Die Fledermaus". For the Jagerball (Hunters' Ball)?guests arrive in elegant Austrian folk dress - ?lots of green velvet and silk, Alpine jackets, dirndls and lederhosen.
First begun in 1814 as part of the Congress of Vienna, occurrences of the Vienna ball have seen a series of fits and starts, many times due to revolution and war. After the reinstatement of the Republic of Austria and rebuilding of the opera house following WWII, ?Vienna reopened its opera house in November of 1955. The following?February, the opera house held the first Opera Ball of the Second Republic.
Since then, the balls have continued uninterrupted. But?not much has changed since the 19th century. Debutantes still perform the opening ceremonies, beginning with a Polonaise, followed by a polka and a waltz. Celebrities can also be spotted at the balls.
Take a trip to Vienna to attend a ball with luxury hotel accommodations near the Hofburg Palace, airport transfers, tickets for the Imperial Kaiserball at Hofburg Palace for New Year's Eve, private tour of Vienna, and tickets for an opera or ballet performance at the Vienna State Opera.