Opernball#
Opera Ball, official highlight of the Vienna ball season during Fasching (carnival). First held at the Vienna State Opera as a charity ball in 1936 ("Winterhilfswerk", a welfare scheme for the indigent during the winter months). After an 18-year interval (due to World War II and the destruction of the opera house), the Opera Ball has been held annually since 1956 (with the exception of 1991, when it was cancelled because of the Gulf War), and is traditionally attended by celebrities from political, business, and artistic life. Since1990 the Opera Ball has repeatedly been the target of protest demonstrations against bourgois culture and its overt materialism.