Vienna Ball Season 2027: Which Ball to Pick, What It Costs, What to Wear

Vienna ball season opens on 11 November and peaks in January and February, and our 2027 calendar runs from 14 January to 11 February. Each ball sells its own tickets; most ask for a floor-length gown and tails or a tuxedo. The best ball for a visitor is not the Opera Ball: Vienna holds more than 450 balls a year, and the January balls in our calendar sell to anyone at €100 to €220. Opera Ball entry costs €435 and went by a raffle that closed in June.

When is the Vienna ball season in 2027?#

The season opens on 11 November at 11:11 with a public waltz on the Graben, in the city centre. To see how January and February compare with the rest of the year, read our guide to the best time to visit Vienna, month by month.

Every ball in the calendar below sells tickets to the public. As of mid-October 2026, though, the Doctors' Ball (Ärzteball) is sold out and the Coffee Brewers' Ball (Kaffeesiederball) has sold its online quota.

Sources: 2027 dates; Confectioners'; Flower; Philharmonic; Coffee Brewers'; Industry; Sciences; Rainbow; Hunters'; TU; Doctors'; Opera; Lawyers'; Ukrainian.

The busiest stretch is Thursday 21 to Saturday 23 January: five balls in three nights, two of them at the Musikverein. Five of the 13 balls fall on a Thursday, so a Thursday to Sunday trip can include one.

If you come earlier, the Chimney Sweepers' Ball is on Friday 13 November 2026, in Palais Ferstel as the ball's own site presents it. A seat costs €70 and a strolling ticket €60, on public sale from 15 October. At the other end of the season, the Ukrainian Charity Ball on 11 February closes the Hofburg season. For the days around your ball, see our Vienna visitor guide.

Which Vienna ball should you pick in 2027?#

For a first ball, pick the Philharmonic Ball if you own tails and the TU Ball if you do not: it costs €150, takes place in the Hofburg and accepts a black suit with a bow tie. You will not be the only visitor: about 30,000 visitors went to a Vienna ball in the 2023/24 season.

If something else matters more:

• Only a dark suit: the TU Ball, the Rainbow Ball (Regenbogenball) or the Confectioners' Ball (Zuckerbäckerball).
• The loosest dress code: the Sciences Ball at City Hall, where a cocktail dress or a dark lounge suit is fine.
• Tickets today: the Lawyers' Ball (Juristenball) and the Ukrainian Charity Ball, both on sale as of mid-October 2026.
• The lowest price: the Rainbow Ball, €100 without a seat.
• Traditional dress: the Hunters' Ball (Jägerball), which takes ticket requests in writing only.

The Opera Ball is broadcast live on TV. Its 2027 entrance tickets cost €435 each, €35 of that a donation, and went by a raffle that closed on 5 June 2026. A table seat costs €665, entrance included, and the Opera Ball Office is the only place that sells either. To see the opening without a ball ticket, enter the raffle for the dress rehearsal on 3 February 2027 at 20:00, open from 11 to 18 November 2026; there is no dress code and no dancing. Seats, dress code and the evening's timetable are in our Opera Ball guide.

The Vienna Philharmonic Ball: 21 January 2027 at the Musikverein#

The Philharmonic Ball takes place in all the halls of the Musikverein on Thursday 21 January 2027. Tickets cost €220, or €75 for students up to age 27. They go on sale on 11 January 2027 at the Philharmonic's ticket office and online. Until then you can only buy a ticket with a table, reserved by e-mail while tables last.

The dress code names only a floor-length evening gown and tails, so a tuxedo is not on the list. Admission is from 21:00, the ball begins at 22:00 and it ends at 05:00.

How much does a Vienna ball ticket cost? €100 to €220 in January#

A regular ticket costs €100 to €220 at the January balls in our calendar. In February, the Lawyers' Ball charges €198, including the cloakroom, and the Ukrainian Charity Ball sells from €85 to €259, with or without a table. The Rainbow Ball's €100 becomes €104.40 with fees. Students and young guests pay less:

• €55 at the TU Ball and the Rainbow Ball.
• €75 at the Philharmonic Ball up to age 27, and for a youth ticket at the Lawyers' Ball.
• €90 at the Industry Ball, if you were born in 1998 or later.
• €96 at the Coffee Brewers' Ball, up to age 26.

At the Coffee Brewers', Confectioners', Lawyers', Rainbow and Opera balls, a ticket covers entry only, and seats at a table are sold on top. At the Confectioners' Ball a seat alone does not get you in.

Each ball runs its own sale. Sales open at 11:00 on 27 October for the Confectioners' Ball and at 12:00 on 1 November for the Rainbow Ball. The Flower Ball's online sales link goes up at 11:00 on 11 November. The Industry Ball sells on 18 and 19 January 2027, in limited numbers. The Hunters' Ball answers written requests from early November, and its tickets without a table usually sell out very fast. As of mid-October 2026, the Doctors' Ball has only limited late-night and raffle tickets, and information on the Coffee Brewers' Ball's last tickets is still to come.

What do you wear to a Vienna ball? 6 dress-code terms#

Most balls in our calendar ask for a floor-length gown and tails or a tuxedo, but each sets its own code, so check it before you pack. These are the terms you will meet on the balls' German pages:

• Frack: tails, a black tailcoat with a white bow tie.
• Smoking: a tuxedo, accepted at 7 of the 10 balls in our calendar that publish a dress code, but not at the Opera Ball or the Philharmonic Ball, which want tails.
• Abendkleid or Ballkleid: an evening or ball gown, floor-length at most balls; the Rainbow Ball also accepts a knee-covering dress.
• Dunkler Anzug: a dark suit, allowed with a bow tie but not a necktie at the TU and Confectioners' balls, and with a bow tie, tie or neckerchief at the Rainbow Ball.
• Galauniform: a gala uniform, accepted instead of tails at the Opera, Coffee Brewers', Doctors' and Lawyers' balls.
• Tracht: traditional dress, such as a Dirndl or a hunting dinner jacket, required at the Hunters' Ball and banned at the Opera and Confectioners' balls.

The Sciences Ball has the loosest list: a cocktail dress or a dark lounge suit is fine there. The Coffee Brewers', TU, Doctors', Lawyers' and Hunters' balls all reserve the right to refuse entry to guests who are not dressed to the code.

What happens at a Vienna ball, from the opening to 05:00?#

Doors open between 19:30 at the Coffee Brewers' Ball and 21:00 at the Philharmonic Ball. Then a Viennese ball runs in four parts:

1. The opening. Young women in white and their partners open the ball with a polonaise. At the Opera Ball about 150 couples do it at 22:00, for about 50 minutes, with The Blue Danube as the opening waltz.
2. "Alles Walzer!" The call means "everyone waltz", and it opens the floor to all guests. Until then the floor belongs to the opening couples; at the Opera Ball the call comes at 22:45.
3. The midnight quadrille. Guests dance a quadrille to a dance teacher's calls, and it ends, to everyone's amusement, in a muddle. The Opera Ball dances three, at 00:00, 02:00 and 04:00. At the Confectioners' Ball the programme runs from the opening to a midnight show.
4. The end. The lights dim and the band plays a slow waltz as everyone leaves. The Philharmonic Ball and the Opera Ball end at 05:00.

Do you need to know how to waltz? A ball crash course is 3 sessions#

Knowing the waltz helps, and a short course is enough to learn it: the Viennese waltz has only six steps, and the midnight quadrille is danced to a teacher's calls.

Tanzschule Elmayer, at Bräunerstraße 13 in the first district, is about 24 minutes on foot from MINT by our estimate. It offers three formats:

• Ball Express Course: three sessions over three weeks, starting between November and February, €220 per couple.
• Ball Express Course plus: one week in the Vienna semester break, 120 minutes a session, quadrille included, €240 per couple.
• Private lessons: 50 minutes for €95, per person or per couple, or five hours for €450.

For a drop-in class, Tanzschule Rueff runs Hop on Waltz workshops for visitors almost daily, in its halls behind City Hall. Waltz in Vienna runs one-hour waltz workshops on most days, bookable online.

Where to stay for a ball: the Staatsoper is about 16 minutes on foot#

MINT is a minute from the Naschmarkt, and the ball venues are a walk away. By our estimate, the Staatsoper is about 16 minutes on foot and the Musikverein about 17. The Hofburg, home to seven of the 13 balls, is about 22 minutes, and City Hall about 26. The Rainbow Ball's hotel is 5.1 km away, so for that ball a base near Schönbrunn is closer.

Going to a ball as two couples? Our Penthouse Maisonette has two bedrooms in 85 m² for four guests, from €375 a night; the MINT Artisan also sleeps four, from €185. Check-in is from 15:00 and check-out by 11:00, with a two-night minimum, so make the ball night your first night, not your last. Luggage storage before check-in and after check-out is free. You can check dates and book direct.

Frequently asked questions#

Can tourists go to a Vienna ball? Yes: every ball in our 2027 calendar sells tickets to the public, and in January a regular ticket costs €100 to €220. As of mid-October 2026, the Doctors' Ball is sold out and the Coffee Brewers' Ball has sold its online quota.

When is the Vienna ball season in 2027? It opens on 11 November 2026 and peaks in January and February. The balls in our calendar run from the Confectioners' Ball on 14 January to the Ukrainian Charity Ball on 11 February 2027, which closes the Hofburg season.

How much does a Vienna ball ticket cost? A regular ticket costs €100 to €220 at most balls in our calendar, and students pay from €55. Opera Ball entrance costs €435.

What is the dress code for a Vienna ball? Most balls ask for a floor-length gown and tails or a tuxedo, and a few allow a dark suit with a bow tie. The Opera Ball and the Philharmonic Ball want tails, and the Hunters' Ball wants traditional dress.

What does "Alles Walzer" mean? It means "everyone waltz": the call after the opening that lets all guests onto the dance floor. At the Opera Ball it comes at 22:45.

Do Vienna ball tickets include a seat? Usually not: at the Coffee Brewers', Confectioners', Lawyers', Rainbow and Opera balls, seats at a table are sold on top of the ticket. At the Opera Ball a table seat costs €665, entrance included.

What is the most famous ball in Vienna? The Opera Ball at the Staatsoper, broadcast live on TV, on 4 February 2027. Its entrance tickets went by a raffle that closed on 5 June 2026, so the Philharmonic Ball, on sale from 11 January, is the easier first ball.

Sources#

Our team checks the dates, prices and figures on this page by hand against official sources.

• Ball season and 2027 ball dates, Vienna Tourist Board
• Learning to dance in Vienna (German), Vienna Tourist Board
• Vienna Opera Ball 2027: tickets, the evening, the dress rehearsal, Wiener Staatsoper
• Vienna Philharmonic Ball 2027, Wiener Philharmoniker
• Kaffeesiederball 2027, organiser
• ZuckerBäckerball 2027, organiser
• Flower Ball 2027, City of Vienna
• Ball der Industrie und Technik 2027, Techniker-Cercle
• Wiener Ball der Wissenschaften 2027, organiser
• Wiener Regenbogenball 2027, organiser
• Jägerball 2027, Verein Grünes Kreuz
• TU Ball 2027, HTU Wien
• Ärzteball 2027, organiser
• Juristenball 2027, Österreichischer Juristenverein
• Ukrainian Charity Ball 2027, organiser
• Rauchfangkehrerball 2026, organiser
• Ball Express Courses and private lessons, Tanzschule Elmayer

Last updated: October 2026. Christian, Host & Founder, MINT @Naschmarkt.