The college had a May Ball which ran from 1964-67. There was no ball in 1968 and the last May Ball was held in 1969. A May Ball was planned in 1970 but it was cancelled because of limited support/ticket sales.

From 1979-1987 the College held a "June Event" - a programme of films, dances and other events to celebrate the end of term. According to the organisers of the first Spring Ball (1988), the 1987 June event was a 'crowning disaster' as it made a loss of £4000.

In 1988 Churchill began to hold Spring Balls. A paper presented to College Council (reference CCAC/123/6/1) by the organisers of the first Spring Ball explains the reasoning behind a Spring Ball. It was felt that a May week event at Churchill could not compete with the other May Balls, the good indoor areas at Churchill make it better suited than other colleges to holding an event in the Lent term when the weather is more unreliable, and what was wanted was a cheap, good value ball.