What happens over a weekend
Most festivals run from Thursday or Friday night to Sunday night (of the 555 festivals we list, 86% start on a Thursday or a Friday). The first night is a welcome party. Saturday and Sunday are built the same way: workshops from late morning, usually an hour each, in several rooms and sorted by level; a break to eat and sleep; shows by the teachers in the evening; then social dancing until three, four or five in the morning, often in more than one room with different DJs.
Sunday night is the last party, and for many dancers the best one. Some festivals add a pool party, a bootcamp before the weekend, or private lessons with the artists.
Full pass or party pass
A full pass gets you every workshop and every party. A party pass gets you the evenings only: cheaper, and the right choice if you mostly want to social dance. Many festivals also sell day passes and single parties.
Prices rise in waves, from early bird to regular to the door, so once a festival announces its lineup it pays to book early. Across the 279 upcoming festivals that list a price, the cheapest pass is typically around €90: half are cheaper, half dearer. Hotels near the venue, and the festival’s own hotel packages, sell out early too.
Choosing your level
Be honest, and when in doubt pick the level below. Workshops move fast, and a room where everyone can do the figure learns more than a room where half are lost. As a rough guide: less than a year of regular classes is beginner or improver; a year or two is intermediate; advanced means you can lead or follow most of what you see on a social floor without thinking about it. Some festivals run a short level check on the first day.
Take notes, or film the recap at the end of each workshop if the teachers allow it. You will not remember everything on Monday.
What to pack
- Two or three tops per night: you will change between dances.
- Dance shoes that turn, and a second pair in case your feet need a change.
- Deodorant, mints and a small towel, in a bag you keep with you.
- A refillable water bottle. Dancing all night is a sport.
- Plasters or blister tape, and earplugs to sleep in the day.
- Something comfortable for the workshops, and something you feel good in for the parties.
On the social floor
Anyone can ask anyone, a no is just a no, and the floor is shared. At your first festival, dance at your level and with people you meet in the workshops; by Saturday night you will know half the room. The etiquette guide has the rest.
Picking your festival
Start with the lineup: if your favourite teachers or DJs are on it, that is half the decision. Then the style (a sensual festival feels different from a Dominican one), the size (a congress with five rooms or a weekender with one), the distance and the price. A smaller festival close to home is a gentle first one; a big congress is an experience of its own.