The Vienna Opera Ball, the highlight of Austria's social calendar, will be cancelled in 2022 for the second year running due to the Covid pandemic.
One of the most important social events on the Austrian social calendar has fallen prey to Covid, again. The Vienna Opera Ball will not be held next year due to the still uncertain situation, according to State Secretary for the Arts and Culture Andrea Mayer.
The so-called "Ball of Balls" would not be feasible and holding it on the scheduled 24 February date would send the "wrong signal" Mayer told the APA. Not least, the appearance of the new variant Omicron has made safe planning for the event impossible.
The ball, whose 5,000-plus attendees include politicans, business people and international celebrities, was also cancelled last year due to the pandemic. Prior to that it was last called off during the 1991 Gulf War.
The news emerged as Austria unveiled a road map for coming out of its latest lockdown, which has seen restaurants, bars, shops and Christmas markets closed since 22 November after a surge in Covid infections and hospitalisations.
Planning for the Opera Ball 2022 has been underway since the summer of 2021 and the event was already sold out, according to national broadcaster ORF. A replacement programme is now being prepared for the Opera Ball week.
