Christ’s biannual May Ball, due to be held later this year, has been downscaled to a “soirée”.

The website describes the event as a “cosy, candlelit soirée,” adding that attendees can “expect an evening of food, drink and dancing, with just a touch of understated elegance".

The President of the Soirée Committee told Varsity: “The new Christ’s College Soirée is a student-led event in the Fellows’ Garden designed to reflect the expectations of current students and delivered in the context of traditional May Week activities.”

Tickets start at £65 for students on a bursary, increasing to £95 for standard price members’ tickets, and £115 for guest tickets. The event will be held on 23 June from 9pm until 3am the following day.

Last held in 2024, Christ’s College’s ball has been a regular fixture of the May Week schedule for many years. However, it now appears to have become the latest May Week event to go under, after Sidney Sussex cancelled its May Ball in November.

In December, Churchill College announced that it would hold a smaller-scale June Event in place of a May Ball, citing concerns about affordability for students.

In comparison to traditional May Week events, which generally allow all current members of the University to buy tickets, tickets for the soirée may only be purchased by current Christ’s and Pembroke students, fellows, bye-fellows, staff, and alumni.

Each member will also be allowed to buy up to three guest tickets for non-members. However, if enough tickets remain available, they will be released to all University members on 1 February.

The partnership with Pembroke continues an arrangement announced last year. In February 2025, Pembroke May Ball described themselves in an Instagram post as “thrilled” to partner with Christ’s, offering member price tickets for Pembroke Ball to all Christ’s students.

As opposed to previous events, which have taken place across the College’s entire grounds, the Soirée is to take place exclusively in the Fellows’ Garden, which occupies close to a third of the College’s main site.

Christ’s decision not to go ahead with a May Ball in 2026 leaves just seven colleges planning to host balls this May Week. As recently as 2024, 15 balls were held across May Week, including at colleges such as Robinson and Wolfson.

The loss of many of these events has been widely attributed to rising ticket prices and falling demand from students, with 2025 seeing the cancellation of several notable events, including Clare College May Ball, while Robinson’s May Ball was downgraded to a “mega bop”.