Viennese grouches

Every third Austrian plans to attend a ball

More than a third of Austrians plan to attend at least one ball this year. An average of 250 euros per person is planned for this, as a survey commissioned by the Austrian Retail Association shows.

Most respondents (29 percent) are planning at least one visit to the ball, with a further five percent planning several. 14 percent were still undecided at the time of the survey in mid-January. "In view of the particularly long ball season this year - Shrove Tuesday falls on March 4 - the number of visitors could therefore increase significantly," the trade association said in a press release.

The hardest-working ball-goers are to be found in the south of the country: In Styria and Carinthia, around four out of ten respondents (39 percent) said they wanted to attend at least one ball. Almost as many were in Tyrol and Vorarlberg. Although Vienna has the most balls, it is here of all places that the biggest ball-phobes are to be found. Only 29 percent of Viennese want to go to a ball this year.

Mainly young people to be found
In terms of age groups, balls score particularly well with people aged between 18 and 28, followed by 29 to 43-year-olds. People over 60 attend balls comparatively less.

Carnival and masked balls are the most popular. School, college and university balls are in second place. Other balls attended are those of organizations such as the fire department or police, farmers' balls, regional or municipal balls and, slightly behind, musicians' balls. In Vienna-Floridsdorf, a jogging pants ball celebrates its premiere on March 1. Guests are encouraged to come in jogging pants or leggings.