Survey: More Than a Third of Austrians Want to Attend a Ball This Year
"The ball season is not only a cultural highlight, but also an economic engine. It provides important impulses, especially for the fashion trade, but also for perfumeries, jewelers and flower shops, during an otherwise rather weak sales period," explained Rainer Will, the spokesperson for the Trade Association.
In a consumer check, for which Repubblika surveyed more than 1,000 Austrians on behalf of the Trade Association, 29 percent of respondents wanted to attend at least one ball this year, with a further five percent planning to attend several. This means that the number of ball-goers has slightly decreased compared to the previous year (from 38 percent to 34 percent). However, 14 percent were still undecided at the time of the survey in mid-January. "Given the particularly long ball season this year - Shrove Tuesday falls on March 4 - the number of visitors could therefore still increase significantly," it was said in a press release on Thursday.
Quirky Event in Vienna-Floridsdorf: First Sweatpants Ball
In addition to the classic balls, there is also a quirky event this year: In Vienna-Floridsdorf, a presumably younger audience will celebrate the first Sweatpants Ball on March 1. Dress code: sweatpants or leggings.
The most popular among Austrians are carnival or masquerade balls (32 percent), closely followed by school, college or university balls (30 percent). Balls organized by organizations such as the fire brigade, police or army (20 percent) as well as farmers' balls (17 percent) are also very popular. Regional or community balls (16 percent) and musicians' balls (seven percent) are also in high demand.
Viennese are Ball Grumps
The most diligent ball-goers can be found in the south of the country: In Styria and Carinthia, 39 percent of respondents said they wanted to attend at least one ball. Almost as many (38 percent) were in Tyrol and Vorarlberg. Although Vienna has the most balls with 450, it is precisely here that the biggest ball grumps live: Only 29 percent of Viennese want to attend a ball this year.
Looking at generations, ball events scored particularly well with Gen Z (18 to 28 years), where 46 percent definitely want to attend at least one ball this year. Almost as many ball fans (45 percent) were among the Millennials (29 to 43 years). Among members of Generation X (44 to 59 years), 29 percent were infected with the dance fever, while it was 26 percent among the Baby Boomers (60+).
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.