Vienna

=== Ball dances ===
The first [[Ball (dance event)|balls]] in Vienna were held in the 18th century. The ball season runs during [[Carnival]] from 11 November to [[Shrove Tuesday]]. Many balls are held in the [[Hofburg]], [[Vienna City Hall|Rathaus]] and [[Musikverein]]. Guests adhere to a strict dress code, men wear [[Black tie|black]] or [[white tie]] while women wear a [[ball gown]]. Debutants of the ball wear white.<ref name="Vienna Tourist Board">{{cite web |url=http://b2b.wien.info/media/files-b2b/artikel-db-baelle-en.doc |title=Balls in Vienna |author=Vienna Tourist Board |access-date=21 August 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906093826/http://b2b.wien.info/media/files-b2b/artikel-db-baelle-en.doc |archive-date=6 September 2015}}</ref>

The balls are opened with dances, traditionally including a Viennese waltz, at around 22:00, and closed at aboout 05:00 the next morning. Food served at the balls include sausages with bread or [[Goulash|Gulaschsoups]].

Notable Viennese balls include the [[Vienna Opera Ball]], the [[Vienna Ball of Sciences]], the Wiener Akademikerball and the Hofburg SIlvesterball. 

The Wiener Akademikerball in the Hofburg has attracted lots of controversy for being a gathering for [[Far-right politics|far-right]] politicians and groups. The ball is hosted by the [[Freedom Party of Austria|FPÖ]], the right-wing populist party of Austria and has attracted multiple right wing and far-right personalities, such as [[Martin Sellner]] and [[Marine Le Pen|Marie Le Pen]]. Since 2008, there have been annual demonstrations by various organizations against the ball. Former leader of the FPÖ [[Heinz-Christian Strache]] compared the [[Anti-fascism|anti-fascist]] protesters to a [[Nazism|Nazi]] mob, claiming the ball goers were "new [[The Holocaust|Jews]]".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shields |first=Michael |date=6 February 2012 |title=Austria far right leader hurt by "new Jews" comment |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE8150UF/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Shields |first=Michael |date=24 January 2014 |title=Protesters arrested at right-wing party's Vienna ball |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/vienna-ball-right/protesters-arrested-at-right-wing-partys-vienna-ball-idUKL5N0KY3E820140124/}}</ref>