A Commemoration ball is a formal ball held by one of the colleges of the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

in the 9th week of Trinity Term, the week after the end of the last Full Term of the academic year, which is known as "Commemoration Week". Commemoration balls are held by different colleges each year, following a cycle by which each college holds a ball every three years. Commemoration Week is so known because of the ceremonies in commemoration of the benefactors of the university that are held then, namely the Commemoration Day sermon formerly held (until 2006) on the Sunday, and the Encaenia ceremony (where the annual Creweian Oration in honour of benefactors is given) and garden party on the Wednesday of that week. Commemoration Week was formerly one of two occasions when balls were traditionally held, the other being Eights Week, the 5th week of Trinity term when the

Summer Eights Eights Week, also known as Summer Eights, is a four-day regatta of bumps races which constitutes the University of Oxford's main intercollegiate rowing event of the year. The regatta takes place in May of each year, from the Wednesday to the ...

rowing races occur. Eights balls are nowadays comparatively rare.

Definition

There is no formal definition of a Commemoration ball, but the usual Oxford convention is to refer only to the larger, triennial balls as Commemoration balls. The dress code is usually

white tie White tie, also called full evening dress or a dress suit, is the most formal in traditional evening western dress codes. For men, it consists of a black tail coat (alternatively referred to as a dress coat, usually by tailors) worn over a whi ...

. Many other colleges hold smaller events during Commemoration Week that they call summer balls or parties rather than Commemoration balls. These are usually held on an annual or irregular basis, and are usually

black tie Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal element ...

Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ...

holds a triennial winter ball.

Recent and upcoming balls

In the past, Commemoration balls were held "night after night" by different colleges during Commemoration Week. With many colleges now holding smaller annual summer balls, Commemoration balls are now held by only some of the larger colleges, who still follow the traditional triennial cycle.

Oriel College Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, w ...

hosts a ball in the first year of the three-year cycle, and until recently

Magdalen College Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

also did. However

cancelled their ball in 2015 at the last minute downgrading to a smaller affair. Currently, in the second year, there are Commemoration balls held by New College and

The Queen's College The Queen's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its pred ...

. In the third year, there are now four colleges with this honour (

Worcester College Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arm ...

, Christ Church, Trinity College, St. John's College). The 2005 Christ Church Commemoration ball was the first to be held by that college for fifteen years because of an incident at the 1990 ball that led to the Governing Body suspending the ball and replacing it with an annual summer party until 2005. Until 1990 the three great Oxford choral foundations of

(first year), New College (second year) and Christ Church (third year) held their "white tie" Commemoration Balls in consecutive years on a triennial basis, each being widely regarded as the most prestigious ball being held in Oxford in that year, but the 1990 incident at Christ Church upset the tradition as various other colleges claimed Christ Church's (third year) slot, and continue to do so after the Christ Church Ball was reinstated in 2005. The cancellation of

's (first year) Commemoration Ball in 2015, and its reinstatement in the " New College" (second) year of 2016, completed the break with tradition. In 2013, Balliol College held a Commemoration ball to mark the 750th Anniversary of the College's foundation, the 2023 Commemoration ball will be only the third Commemoration held at the College since 1969. Similarly, the commemoration ball hosted by Worcester College on 27 June 2014 was the highlight of celebrations to mark the college's tercentenary. * 2003 — Magdalen College * 2004 — New College * 2005 — Trinity College, Worcester College, Christ Church, St. John's College * 2006 — Magdalen College * 2007 — New College * 2008 — Trinity College, Worcester College, Christ Church, St. John's College * 2009 — Magdalen College, Oriel College * 2010 — New College, Wadham College * 2011 — Trinity College, Worcester College, Christ Church, St. John's College * 2012 — Magdalen College, Oriel College * 2013 — New College, Balliol College * 2014 — Trinity College, Worcester College, Christ Church, St. John's College, Merton College, Exeter College Hertford College * 2015 — Oriel College, ~~Magdalen College~~ (Cancelled) * 2016 — New College, Magdalen College, The Queen's College * 2017 — Trinity College, St John's College, Worcester College, Christ Church, Corpus Christi College * 2018 — Oriel College * 2019 — New College, The Queen's College, ~~Magdalen College~~ (Cancelled again) * 2022 — New College, The Queen's College, Christ Church, Trinity College * 2023 — Balliol College, Magdalen College, Oriel College

Performances

Commemoration ball organising committees generally seek to secure private performances from leading entertainers; some notable performances are listed below. ;2022 *

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, Redlight ( Christ Church) *

( St. John's) * Izzy Bizu, Tiggs da Author, Clokkemaker ( Trinity College) ;2016 *

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, (

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, Gentleman's Dub Club, Afriquoi, ( New College) ;2014 *

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, The Oxford Imps, ( Christ Church) * The Hoosiers,

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, Jigsaw & Dynamite MC, Eliza And The Bear ( St John's College) * Maxïmo Park,

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with Oxford University Sinfonietta, The Correspondents,

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, Jaymo & Andy George, (

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, The Correspondents,

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( Trinity College) ;2013 *

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Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided th ...

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( New College) ;2012 *

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, Loick Essien,

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( St John's College) *

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(

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( Trinity College)Trinity Commemoration Ball 2011 :: The Night
*

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( Christ Church) ;2010 *

( New College) *

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(

) ;2009 * Feeder, The Pipettes (

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( Christ Church) *

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( Trinity College) * One Night Only,

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( New College) ;2006 *

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, Bodyrockers (

) ;2005 *

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( Trinity College) ;2004 *

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( New College) ;1999 *

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( Trinity College) * St Etienne, ( New College) ;1964 *

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