Vienna Philharmonic Ball anchors the city's winter ball season

The Vienna Philharmonic Ball, held at the Musikverein, anchors a winter calendar of an estimated 450 balls across the city and remains among the most esteemed of those dances. The 2025 Philharmonic Ball celebrated the bicentenary of Johann Strauss II; for that edition 180 young couples auditioned to perform the opening dance and 80 were accepted.

The ball season runs from November to February and reaches its height in January and early February. The next Philharmonic Ball on Jan. 22 will be conducted by Daniel Harding with a program that includes works by Tchaikovsky and Johann Strauss II, and its theme will be fairy tales; the event will also include performances by La Philharmonica and the ensemble Philharmonix.

Balls are an important economic driver for the city, supporting local businesses such as on-site hairdressers and the family-owned dance schools that train debutante couples. The 2023–24 season drew a record 560,000 attendees, about 30,000 of them tourists, with an average guest spending €330 and generating some €185 million in profits; in 2020 it was estimated that some 20,000 bottles of wine, prosecco and champagne are consumed over the course of the season.

Organizers have mixed tradition with contemporary elements—Paul Halwax said he strives to bring the event "into the current age — with old values, but still new"—and there are rooms downstairs with an Austrian folk band and a D.J.

Key Topics

Culture, Vienna Philharmonic Ball, Musikverein, Johann Strauss Ii, Daniel Harding, Philharmonix