Vienna Opera Ball

The 67th Vienna Opera Ball will take place on February 27, 2025.

Please note our dress code:

• large, floor-length evening dress
• black tailcoat (white bow tie) or gala uniform

The first ball celebrations organised by the artists of the Imperial-Royal Court Opera Theater followed on from the legendary celebrations of the Congress of Vienna. In the 1820s and 1830s, numerous ball parties were held in Vienna until the artists finally found a more intimate setting for their celebrations in the Redoutensäle of the Hofburg. After the revolutions of 1848, however, it took some time for this tradition to be revived.

in 1862, the Theater an der Wien received permission to hold ball festivals, inspired by the Parisian opera balls. The Viennese style was slowly revived.

When the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House moved to the house on the Ring in 1869, Emperor Franz Joseph I refused to allow dancing in the new opera house. It was not until 1877 that a "soirée" was permitted in the opera house, at which the ban on dancing after midnight was effectively lifted.

After the fall of the monarchy, the first opera revue of the Republic of Austria took place in 1921. In 1935, the first officially named "Vienna Opera Ball" was held.

After the reopening of the opera house in 1955, the State Opera was once again transformed into a magnificent ballroom in 1956.

Since its revival, the ball has only been canceled three times: in 1991 due to the Gulf War and in 2021 and 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The return of the Opera Ball in 2023 was celebrated with great joy.