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

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

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 Encaenia (; ) is an academic or sometimes ecclesiastical ceremony, usually performed at colleges or universities. It generally occurs some time near the annual ceremony for the general conferral of degrees to students. The word is from Latin, mean ...

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 wh ...

. 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. Merton College 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. 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 arms w ...

, Christ Church,

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

, 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 * Example,

The Academic The Academic are an Irish indie rock band, formed in Rochfortbridge, County Westmeath in 2013. The band consists of Craig Fitzgerald, Dean Gavin, and brothers Matthew and Stephen Murtagh. Their debut studio album, '' Tales from the Backseat'', ...

, ( New College) * Boney M., ( The Queen's College) ;2019 *

Everything Everything Everything Everything are an English art rock band from Manchester that formed in late 2007. Noted for their eclectic sound and complex, sociopolitical lyrics, the band have released six albums to date – 2010's '' Man Alive'', 2013's '' Arc'' ...

, ( The Queen's College) ;2018 * Sigma, (

) ;2017 *

Scouting for Girls Scouting for Girls are an English pop rock band. Their name is a play on the title of the 1908 Scouting handbook ''Scouting for Boys''. The band was formed in 2005 by three childhood friends from London, Roy Stride on piano and lead guitar/voca ...

, Redlight ( Christ Church) * Example ( St. John's) *

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, Tiggs da Author, Clokkemaker (

) ;2016 * Chase and Status,

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, The Electric Swing Circus, (

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Gentleman's Dub Club Gentleman's Dub Club are a British dub band, originating from Leeds, Yorkshire. Biography Having built a reputation for delivering energetic live shows, the group has played for crowds from Goa to Glastonbury, Bestival, V Festival, Secret Ga ...

, Afriquoi, ( New College) ;2014 * Laura Mvula, A Skillz, The Oxford Imps, ( Christ Church) *

The Hoosiers ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

Pendulum A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward th ...

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, Eliza And The Bear ( St John's College) *

Maxïmo Park Maxïmo Park are an English alternative rock band, formed in 2000 in Newcastle upon Tyne. The band consists of Paul Smith (vocals), Duncan Lloyd (guitar), and Tom English (drums). The band have released seven studio albums: '' A Certain Trigge ...

, Stornoway with Oxford University Sinfonietta, The Correspondents, DJ EZ, Jaymo & Andy George, (

) *

Clean Bandit Clean Bandit are an English electronic music group, formed in Cambridge in 2008. They have had four number 1 hits and ten top 10 hits on the UK Singles Chart. They direct and produce their own music videos, many of which have been nominated for ...

AlunaGeorge AlunaGeorge are an English electronic music duo from London, consisting of singer-songwriter Aluna Francis and producer George Reid. Career 2009: Formation The duo first met in June 2009, when Reid remixed Francis' band My Toys Like Me's trac ...

, The Correspondents,

DJ Heidi A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

, Friend Within (

) ;2013 *

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, R ...

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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 the ...

) *

The Fratellis The Fratellis are a Scottish rock band from Glasgow, formed in 2005. The band consists of three unrelated members, who perform under pseudonyms: lead vocalist and guitarist Jon Fratelli, bassist Barry Fratelli, and drummer Mince Fratelli. Thei ...

( New College) ;2012 * Athlete,

Labrinth Timothy Lee McKenzie (born 4 January 1989), better known by his stage name Labrinth, is an English singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer. After initially pursuing a career in music production, Simon Cowell signed him to his record labe ...

Loick Essien Loick Mark Essien is an English singer signed to record label Sony Music. Essien began his musical career after featuring on rapper Chipmunk's single "Beast". Essien was set to release his debut album, ''Identity'', on 5 March 2012 but was dro ...

, Natty,

Roll Deep Roll Deep (formerly Roll Deep Entourage) are a British grime crew. They were founded in 2001 by Wiley shortly before the disbandment of UK garage crew Pay As U Go Cartel. The group have had two UK No. 1 singles, "Good Times" and " Green Lig ...

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( St John's College) *

Mystery Jets Mystery Jets are an English indie rock band, formerly based on Eel Pie Island in Twickenham, London. The band consists of Blaine Harrison (vocals, guitar and keyboards), Jack Flanagan (bass and vocals), Kapil Trivedi (drums) and Henry Harriso ...

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The Streets The Streets are an English music project led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Skinner. The project has released six studio albums: ''Original Pirate Material'' (2002), '' A Grand Don't Come for Free'' (2004), '' The Hardest Way to ...

Sophie Ellis-Bextor Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded Ellis-Bextor went solo and ach ...

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)Trinity Commemoration Ball 2011 :: The Night
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Tinchy Stryder Kwasi Esono Danquah III ( ; born 14 September 1986), known by the stage name Tinchy Stryder, is a Ghanaian-British rapper, singer, songwriter, entrepreneur and investor. Stryder has released three solo studio albums, '' Star in the Hood'' (2 ...

( Christ Church) ;2010 *

( New College) *

Electric Six Electric Six is a six-piece American rock band formed in 1996 in Detroit, Michigan. Their music was described by AllMusic as a combination of garage, disco, punk rock, new wave, and metal. The band achieved recognition in 2003 with the sin ...

( Merton College) ;2009 * Feeder,

The Pipettes The Pipettes were a British indie pop girl group formed in 2003 in Brighton by Robert "Monster Bobby" Barry. The group has released two albums, '' We Are The Pipettes'', and '' Earth vs. The Pipettes'' and released numerous singles to suppor ...

(

) * Ladyhawke,

Scratch Perverts The Scratch Perverts are a collective of turntablist Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more turntables and a cross fad ...

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The Wombats The Wombats are an English indie rock band formed in Liverpool in 2003, consisting of Matthew Murphy (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Tord Øverland Knudsen (bass, backing vocals, keyboards), and Dan Haggis (drums, backing vocals, keyboards) ...

( Christ Church) *

Sugababes Sugababes are a British girl group composed of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy. The lineup changed three times before returning to the original lineup in 2011. Formed in 1998 by All Saints manager Ron Tom, Sugababes releas ...

, Stornoway (

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Logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

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) ;2007 *

Ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

( New College) ;2006 *

Pharrell Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom h ...

Bodyrockers BodyRockers were an English–Australian electronic music duo, consisting of Dylan Burns and Kaz James, which formed in 2004. Their 2005 single, " I Like the Way", reached No. 3 on the United Kingdom Singles Chart, No. 12 on the Aus ...

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Dizzee Rascal Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a British MC and rapper. A pioneer of grime music, his work has also incorporated elements of UK garage, bassline, British hip hop, and R&B. D ...

( New College) ;1999 *

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University ...

, Jools Holland (

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St Etienne ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

, ( New College) ;1964 *

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

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