All dressed up, but nowhere to go - Napier Girls' High School students and their dates were left without a ball on Friday night.
"Pretty muffed because I was looking forward to it and I know the girls were too," said ball date Bayley Stephens-Ellison.
A text announcing the cancellation went out to Year 12 and 13 students and their families at around 3pm, just four hours before the ball at Centennial Hall was due to begin.
"Unfortunately we are cancelling tonight's ball for health and safety concerns based on information from police," the text said.
"Please inform your partners of the latest situation. To reiterate the NGHS ball is not going ahead, please do not turn up at the venue."
It's believed someone made a threat, and the school just thought it would be safer if girls and their partners didn't go.
It's the second time a ball's been cancelled in recent weeks - Wellington Girls' College had theirs shut down after a bomb scare at Te Papa in June that turned out to be a false alarm.
Napier Girls' High released a statement to Newshub late on Friday evening.
"Earlier today we released information to our community that the ball was going ahead - at that time, there was no information available to suggest a credible reason to cancel," it said.
"Subsequently, the school received further information from police that has led to our decision to cancel the ball. We continue to work with the police on this matter."
Police wouldn't elaborate on the nature of the threat. Newshub understands students have been told not to discuss it.
"They understand the decision the school made but it's still very disappointing. This is the last time they'll have a big celebration like this all dressed up together, and then they all go off to Uni next year so they're just a little bit sad," said parent Kym Hunt.
But parents and students made the most of a bad situation and all the effort they went to dress up.
"Pre-balls are staying around, so we'll hang out and take photos of ball dates and stuff," Mr Stephens-Ellison said.
The party still went on, just maybe not the way it was intended.
Newshub.
