Vienna Opera Ball and Season

Vienna is the last European capital to continue the age-old tradition of sumptuous, elegant dances, with rustling silk gowns, commanding orchestras and gentlemen in top hats and tails. The famed Vienna Opera Ball – the grandest one of the season – held in the neo-Renaissance State Opera House is a firm fixture for globetrotting socialites, industry barons and international ambassadors and dignitaries, and it’s just one of around 300 balls that fill the season, ranging from the popular New Year’s Eve Kaiserball, aka the Imperial Ball, to the only masked event, the Rudolfina Redoute, which takes place at Vienna’s Imperial Palace. There seems to be a ball for every single conceivable trade or organisation, including florists, confectioners and even milkmaids. For a rarefied experience, all dizzying waltzes, 19th-century style and highfalutin socialising, there is nowhere like Vienna in the season.

Highlights

The Vienna Opera Ball is the big one, always held at the Vienna State Opera House on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday. Women in floor-sweeping gowns and men looking like a tribe of James Bonds come to dine and dance, to see and be seen.

Vienna Opera Ball and Season Highlight Image

In The Know

Head Count

The grander balls are attended by as many as 5,000 people.

Meeting Point

If you’re not arriving with your chosen partner(s), arrange a rendezvous in the foyer located in front of the Feststiege (festive staircase) at the Opera House. This also has the advantage (or disadvantage) of being the only place in the building where people can smoke.

Best View

For a bird’s-eye view of the city, take a ride on the Riesenrad, Vienna’s famous big wheel (and the location for that ‘cuckoo clock’ speech in The Third Man). For details, go to www.wienerriesenrad.com.

Packing Tips

Bring your very best threads. Don’t have a ballgown gathering dust in the back of your closet? No matter – at Flossmann you can rent a suitable dress for the evening from around €120 (+43 1 512 0166; www.flossmann. at). Gentlemen can hire out penguin suits from Lambert Hofer (+43 1 408 1666; www.costumier.com).

Escape

Most balls have rooms for different styles of dancing, so if you can’t take the Strauss, head for the swing or disco room.

Dos and don'ts

• Don’t make the mistake of thinking your usual shoes will do – invest in proper dancing shoes to get you through the night.
• Arrive promptly – admission is from 21h and the dancing starts at 22h.
• Check out the dress rehearsal at 19h on the night before. Being put through your ballroom paces while still in jeans and T-shirt has a surreal appeal.
• Buy a Vienna pass (around €17), especially if you’re trying to see some sights. The three-day passport will give you unlimited use of public transport and discounts at major museums and galleries. You can buy it online at www.wien.info, or pick it up at most hotels and tourist information centres.

Need To Know

Children

Most balls are adults-only, but there are some special family-friendly events. See www.wien.info for details.

Parking

Parking can be problematic in Vienna. Most guests take chauffeur-driven cars or horse-drawn barouches to the event, from €90 an hour. Hail one outside the State Opera or St Stephen’s Cathedral, or ask your hotel to arrange one.

Disability Access

Most venues have reasonable or good access, but do check when you buy your tickets.

Food & Drink

Traditionally, hearty Gulaschsuppe (goulash soup) is served at midnight to keep up revellers’ strength, but we recommend you buy a dinner ticket for the ball or make restaurant reservations. The five-course feasts at Restaurant Bauer on Eisenbahnstrasse (+43 1 512 9871) are an elegant way to start the night. Or try Michelin-starred Steirereck on Heumarkt – book early to get a conservatory table (+43 1 713 3168). Balls usually end in the early hours, but the fun doesn’t stop there: groups descend in their finery on the all-night coffeehouses for a Katerfrühstück (‘hangover breakfast’), or chow down on hotdogs at a Würstelstand. For something a touch more refined, head to Café Landtmann on Dr Karl Lueger-Ring, where such luminaries as Sigmund Freud, Gustav Mahler, Marlene Dietrich and Hillary Clinton have enjoyed the fabulous coffee and cakes (+43 1 241 000).

Sleep

In the city centre, the Levante Parliament has a huge courtyard and a fabulous restaurant. For details and to book, go to www.mrandmrssmith.com or ring 0845 034 0701.

VIP

Austria Travel (www.austriatravel.co.uk) offers package deals based on the winter music programme. Prices for a three-day trip in February start at about £1,150.