Zurich Ball 2023; Credit: LSZ

The 62nd edition of the Zurich Ball (Zürcher Bal) will take place on Wednesday 25 December 2024 at LuxExpo The Box in Luxembourg-Kirchberg, starting at 21:00.

Approximately 4,000 students from all over Europe are expected to attend the traditional event which is organised by Luxembourgish Students in Zurich (Lëtzebuerger Studenten Zürech asbl - LSZ). Multiple DJs including DJ Nosi and Luxembourgish cover band The Noisemakers will perform on the night.

Chronicle.lu recently had the opportunity to speak with Cedric Mulders, LSZ Vice-President, about the event.

Cedric explained that the club, founded in 1930, currently has approximately 100 members. A new committee is elected each March and the current committee is composed of thirteen students, who organise events all year round. These include ski-weekends and club trips to different cities in Europe. Smaller events like the "Stammdesch", where students meet at a bar on Thursday evenings, are also organised, as are presentations from different companies regarding potential job or internship opportunities.

Cedric added that the most notable event of the LSZ calendar is the annual Zurich ball. The organisation of the Christmas Day event starts the previous April when tasks such as securing the location and organising technical equipment, music, drinks, security, etc. are assigned to the committee members. According to Cedric, the committee members "heavily rely on [club members'] help during the setup of the ball a few days prior the event and also to work in the bars and entrance during the ball". He noted that many parents of current members have previously worked on organising the event. Profits from the ball help finance club events throughout the year. In 2023, the event also raised money for the Plooschter Projet, a Luxembourgish initiative aimed at encouraging people to register as stem cell donors. He stated that the committee have not yet decided if they are to raise money for a charitable cause this year.

Cedric confirmed that the exact number of Luxembourgish students in Zurich was unknown, but approximately 100 of them were members of LSZ. He mentioned that there are also Luxembourgish student associations in Fribourg and Lausanne (Fribletz and AELL) in Switzerland.

According to Cedric, almost all Luxembourgish students in Zurich study at the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH), which he said was "one of the best technical universities in Europe, mostly in the fields of engineering (mechanical, civil, electrical and environmental engineering) and natural sciences (physics, chemistry, math, biology, environmental sciences, etc.)." He mentioned that the current committee is composed of three civil engineering students, eight mechanical engineering students, one student of computer science and one architecture student.

The Zurich Ball starts at 21:00 on Wednesday 25 December and finishes at 04:00 the following morning. Guests must be over eighteen years of age and evening dress is required.

Tickets cost €25 for those with a student card and €30 without a student card.

For further details and to purchase tickets, visit: https://zuercherbal.lu/en/ticketen/