This academic year has been challenging for May Ball and June Event committees. Emmanuel’s June Event, Sidney Sussex’s Garden Party, and Clare’s May Ball all had to be cancelled due to a lack of ticket sales, while Robinson’s May Ball was downsized.

Emmanuel blamed “lower-than-expected external ticket sales .“ Sidney Sussex cited “low ticket demand”. 

One student choosing not to attend any May Balls told Varsity: “The fact that May Ball prices are so high and this is completely normalised is a reminder that most Ball-goers are not from conventional socio-economic background”. As a student who has “endured some hard economic circumstances” while at Cambridge, they said that “an extra £200 for a May Ball ticket was absolutely not an option”.

Girton’s Spring Ball, which took place in March, appeared to face challenges in the run-up to the event. At the end of January (27/01), Girton students were sent an “urgent update” about the Ball, being told that the event needed “to sell a few more tickets” by the end of the month in order for the “ticket threshold” to be met and “to make the Ball a reality”.

The chair of a May Week event at one of Cambridge’s larger colleges told Varsity that, while 90% of their tickets were sold on general release day in 2024, this figure plummeted to less than 15% in 2025. They said: “There are far too many aggregate tickets around this year, with a declining population of those interested/capable of attending,” proposing that capping the number of May Week events in future years could alleviate the issue. 

They continued: “With other May Balls cancelling, we were able to recoup some of our earnings, particularly through discount schemes to those attending cancelled May Balls”.

St John’s May Ball executive committee told Varsity that while “more students are questioning the value or style of these events, especially with rising costs,” there are others who “think the opposite”.

They acknowledged that “finding the balance between the two is extremely challenging”.

One member of the Trinity Hall June Event (THJE) committee told Varsity that the event at one point seemed to be “on the brink” of cancellation. They explained that the committee had been “hanging on for news from various meetings with the governing body” to find out whether the event would be cancelled.

In messages sent to the committee in mid March (12/03), a senior member of the THJE committee revealed ahead of a governing body meeting that the event was at risk of cancellation. They explained that the event needed more College sales in order to “break even”.

A spokesperson for THJE confirmed to Varsity that the event will be going ahead, adding that it has broken even, making its budget proportional to the number of sales.

Corpus Christi’s May Ball President, Omar Burhanuddin, told Varsity that, although the event did not sell out as it did last time, “we have sold enough tickets to be significantly above our minimum budgetary operating threshold”.

Burhanuddin added that Corpus was able to keep its May Ball budget “fixed and unchanged,” meaning that “no costs have been cut, and no aspects have been scaled back”.

The Queens’ May Ball committee told Varsity that two events are on offer this year: the traditional May Ball and an event called ‘Bounce’.

The committee explained: “Tickets for the Ball were released in December with a rapid uptake and alumni purchases remain consistent with previous years. Since January, sales have been slower than in past years, but the event is intentionally planned at a lower capacity”.

Anna Stoffel, the president of the Hughes Hall May Ball, told Varsity that the committee sought to create a “more affordable, fun, and welcoming alternative”. With tickets at £75 for Hughes students at £85 for non-Hughes guests, Stoffel says the pricing has attracted “strong interest” from Hughes and non-Hughes students alike.

Stoffel acknowledged that organising an event “on such a tight budget” has “been a challenge”. She said: “We’ve spent hours fine-tuning spreadsheets, trying to find that last couple of hundred pounds to cover things like cake pops.”

Other May Week event committees and their members were contacted for comment.