Event: Russia - St. Petersburg

Musical Olympus Diamond Ball

When:	31 May - 1 Jun 2008 (annual)
Where:	Constantine Palace

Re-enact imperial times at the Musical Olympus charitable ball, attracting international visitors, just as the Strauss brothers Johann the Younger and Josef used to visit St Petersburg in the mid 1800s, entertaining the Romanovs in nearby Pavlovsk.

The first ball, back in 1999, was held in Marble Hall of the Ethnography Museum, when it was known as the Remembering Strauss Ball. For the following two years Catherine's Palace in Tsarskoye Selo (formerly the town of Pushkin) was the location of the ball, and subsequently in the likes of Peterhof's Grand Palace (2002) and the Yusupov Palace (2006).

In 2008 the ball returns to the Constantine Palace in Strelna, having first used the Palace of Congresses in 2003.

Guests at the ball will have the opportunity to see Mstislav Rostropovich and Galina Vishnevskaya's art collection, bought by Alisher Usmanov and granted to the Russian Federation and now on display in the Constantine Palace.

As well as the ball, the evening guarantees not only good music, food and dancing, but also fireworks. The following day on the Sunday there is brunch for guests at the Grand Hotel Europe and, finally, a concert at the Hermitage Theatre.