Caramoor celebrated its 60th anniversary Saturday night with an Imperial Ball on the opening night of its eight-week International Music Festival. The event married a beautiful setting, an estate built in the late 1920s, with elevating music, Beethoven’s Ninth. The combination is Caramoor’s trademark and the reason it is beloved among the cultured residents of Katonah, Bedford Hills, and other Westchester towns.

“This is one of my favorite places to listen to classical music,” one guest, Chris Davis, said.

The formality of the gala is also beloved. So even on a sweltering, humid day – the event started at 5:30 p.m., when the sun was still strong – many of the men wore tuxedo jackets and many of the women wore gloves and long gowns.

The women looked fantastic throughout the evening – even when their gloved hands were clasping bottles of Poland Spring water, which Caramoor supplied as guests headed into the concert tent.

The chairwomen of the event, Diane Moss and Zita Rosenthal, were cosseted in silk and taffeta but didn’t break a sweat. Ms. Moss, president of the Helena Rubenstein Foundation, must have a trove of beauty secrets.

The standard formal hairstyle, the updo, was just right for the weather, and worn beautifully by, among others, Anne Lichtblau, Arlyn Gardner, and Diane Roth.

Ms. Lichtblau summed up the prevailing attitude: “Why go if you don’t get decked out?”

For men, the most elegant option was a white jacket. Two impeccable examples were worn by Caramoor’s chief executive, Michael Barrett, and the Miller Theatre’s executive director, George Steel. The former was celebrating Caramoor’s anniversary along with his second anniversary in the job. The latter was over the moon about the birth of his first child, Anna Fredricka, on April 4. “She’s 11 weeks old and she’s sleeping 8 1/2 hours a night,” Mr. Steel said. One might just catch a glimpse of little Anna at the Miller Theatre’s season opener at the end of September.

Other men took fashion liberties – with varying degrees of success. One gentleman carried off black shoes, stockings, and tuxedo pants with a cream dress shirt, beige linen jacket, and black tie. Yet my eyes widened when I spotted a few men with their shirts unbuttoned, exposing quite a bit of chest. They widened further when I saw one man with his shoes and socks off. He claimed his feet had started to ache.

It was the musicians who had the worst of it, performing a big work under stage lights without an intermission. Yet they did it, inspiring guests to tap their toes and bob their heads. Perhaps the temperature enhanced the “Ode to Joy.”

As the work reached its crescendo, night fell and the air turned cool, refreshing guests as they headed to dinner and dancing. Silver candelabras decorated with white roses and blue hydrangeas decorated the tables, covered in light blue brocade. The meal, cold tomato soup, seared filet of beef, and lava cake, came out at an unusually leisurely pace. It was prepared by a former executive chef of Glorious Food, Joseph Jenkins, now the owner of Le Potager Catering.

Due to the suburban setting or the summer season or both, many groups dining together were composed of family members. Caramoor’s general manager, Paul Rosenblum, had his daughter Leona there. Board member Maurice Cox also brought his daughter, Michelle. The Petschek clan (brothers Max and Charles and their wives) attended, and an even bigger posse of Freunds showed up, too, including board members Susan Freund and Anthony Barzilay Freund.

Other guests included Jamie Bernstein, who led the auction, and Katherine Mosby, who published her third novel, “Twilight,” this month.

The event raised $400,000 for the year-round presentation of music and the maintenance of the estate’s gardens and buildings.

Caramoor became a music haven for the public in 1945, when its builders and residents, Walter and Lucie Rosen, decided to make it a home for high culture.

On most summer nights, the atmosphere is informal. Guests spread out on the grounds for picnics before the music programs, which this season include “The Religious Bach,” conducted by the Miller Theatre’s Mr. Steel, and “The Public Bach,” performed by pianists John Musto and Anna Polonsky. The Orchestra of St. Luke’s and its chamber ensemble perform in most of the concerts, the notable exceptions being evenings devoted to jazz, under the direction of Joe Lovano, and appearances by the Emerson String Quartet (July 31) and the Shanghai Quartet (August 5).

“We are so lucky to have this in our backyard,” Bitsy Tatnall said. “Some of the music here is just as good, if not better, than in the city,” she said.

Two of Caramoor’s famous neighbors, Ralph Lauren and Martha Stewart, were not spotted at the event.

Most people get to and from Caramoor by car. So when the gala ended, guests congregated by the driveway and listened to a different kind of music.

“Silver Porsche … green BMW … silver Toyota truck …”