The famous Vienna Opera Ball will not take place next February due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Austrian government announced on Wednesday.
The event has so far only been canceled once since 1956, during the Gulf War in 1991.
Faced with the increase in the number of new cases, the Austrian government has decided to take further measures.
"
Due to the health situation, it would be irresponsible to organize the Ball in a normal way
," Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told the press at the exit of the Council of Ministers.
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This Ball, initially scheduled to be held on February 11 at the Vienna Opera, is one of the most eagerly awaited annual social gatherings of European political, economic and artistic elites.
“
The event requires a long period of preparation and at the moment it cannot be said whether it will be possible to accommodate 7,000 people to dance,
” said Secretary of State for Culture Andrea Mayer.
We all hope to be able to organize another superb Ball de l'Opéra in February 2022
Bogdan Roscic, the director of the Vienna Staatsoper.
“
We are all very sad that the Opera Ball, which is a major annual event of the Vienna State Opera, had to be canceled due to the current situation.
We all hope to be able to organize another superb Opera Ball in February 2022
”, wrote in a statement Bogdan Roscic, the new director of the Vienna Staatsoper.
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This cancellation also applies to the two performances of
The Magic Flute
for Children, which were to take place immediately after.
The Vienna Opera will thus be free for four days.
“
We will take advantage of this period to offer an alternative program, with particular attention to young audiences.
It is therefore important that the decision to cancel be taken early,
”explains the management in its press release.
Significant shortfall
Usually, the Viennese ball season is a financial windfall.
But earlier this month, the iconic Sacher palace, where the start of the evening traditionally takes place for many distinguished guests, announced the dismissal of a quarter of its employees, or around 100 people.
The management spoke of the desertion of international customers.
Read also: Vienna, temple of Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss and Mahler, silenced by the coronavirus
For the Vienna Opera, the cancellation of the ball also causes a significant loss of earnings, which the Secretary of State for Culture has undertaken to compensate.
Andrea Mayer specifies that this decision will have no impact on the operas and concerts planned at the Staatsoper, which continue with the rigorous health precautions.
Austria, which has 8.8 million inhabitants, had recorded more than 40,000 cases of coronavirus contamination on Wednesday.
The country deplores 777 dead.