The 118th Annual Scandinavian Christmas Ball

The American Scandinavian Society hosts its Annual Scandinavian Christmas Ball on December 4, 2026. The Ball traces back to the Society's first formal evening in February 1909. The Society itself was founded in 1908, at a meeting at the Hotel Astor, funded by Niels Poulson, a Danish immigrant turned Brooklyn industrialist, with Nicholas Murray Butler, then president of Columbia University, elected as its first president. The evening opens with cocktails and an open bar, followed by a formal three-course dinner, the Lucia Procession and Lucia songs, a guest performance, and dancing to a live orchestra until midnight. A separate after-dinner ticket option is available for those joining later in the evening. Dress code is formal black tie.