VIENNA — Black tie and satin gowns. Horse-drawn carriages. Waltzes, cha-chas and tangos until the wee hours. High-society revelers scarfing down Wiener wurst with their fingers.

And now, police blockades and marching protesters.

This is peak ball season in Vienna, 2018.

A tradition deeply embedded in the Viennese soul, the formal dance events of the ball season are held by the city’s professional guilds, political parties and universities from November until Lent, with the highest concentration of parties from early January until the end of February.

Many are stiff high-society affairs, like the New Year’s Ball and the Opera Ball — the “official ball of the Federal Republic of Austria,” which dates in its various forms to the 1800s, and this year takes place on Thursday.



Others, like the Confectioners’ Ball, Coffee Brewers’ Ball and Flower Ball, all held last month, are just as formal but attended by a wider audience.