Salzburg Festival Ball unveils its traditional dress

Preparation work is gearing up for the very first Salzburg Festival Ball set to take place at the Felsenreitschule on 1 September.

And Festspielpräsident Helga Rabl-Stadler had the chance to get an idea what would be an offer together with ballroom professional Elisabeth Gürtler and Intendant Alexander Pereira in Gössl´s Gwandhaus.

He said: “We will start with a gala dinner in advance of the ball and then move to the event. After a small concert with big stars there will be the official opening with the young men and women wearing traditional Salzburg dress.”

Debutants Michael Estl and Jacquelline Helminger presented this week the traditional costume together with Tracht designer legend Gerhard Gössl.

The idea and the concept for the clothing came from Andreas Lackner.

He said: “We wanted to have around 80 couples at the opening and there are still some free spaces”, explained an enthusiastic Niki Seifert who has responsibility for the choreography.

The Felsenreitschule is a theatre location and the site of the Salzburg Festival. It was built in 1693 under Archbishop Johann Ernst von Thun, and designed by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach in the place where the quarry for the new Salzburg Cathedral was located.