Festival and Travel Planner 2026

[Chris_Yannick]

Now you are not ????

I wasn't single at THAT festival.

Why? Not enough dancers to go around? There have been a few festivals where end of the party I managed to snag one of the most favourite dancer I discovered at the festival. Definitely not a norm. But how often do you close a party

At that time, I was closing every party. But there is a scramble to find a GOOD dance partner at the end, and if you're not coupled up already or really famous, it can be a challenge to find a good partner with whom you can close the party. But if you have a special someone already, then it's a non issue.

At the same festival in 2023 - last song on Saturday evening Party. I kid you not the entire room was coupled up or knew exactly who they were going to dance with at the end and I got stuck with a drunk who ended up elbowing me in the nose.

If there was an award for closing the party, I should get one . I think I have closed the parties 90% of the time

I don't care nor need to close the party anymore. But if you close the party, you must close in style!

 

[dermont]

Nobody has reviewed Magic 1 week after, so here I go as a on1 dancer for my first (and almost certainly only) visit there:
For me, this festival was a waste of time, money and vacation days. Overall, it was not exactly bad, but not good either. I think "the underside of mediocre" describes the experience correctly.

The good:
-The venue is lovely and the main salsa hall is very beautiful. It was also never too crowded and had enough space to dance comfortably, especially if you don't try to stick close to the "front" and the space near the stage.
-I liked the music (despite the other criticism I will have below). I shazamed more than 10 songs.
-Since I saw the program from last year (where basically all the salsa workshops were on2), I wisely bought a pass just for the bachata workshops and was not wrong. Unlike the bachata social, the workshops were good (better than the ones on the last 2 bachata-only festivals I attended!) and had decent attendance. Apparently, everyone is doing bachazouk now.

The bad:
-the overall good music was generally too slow for my tastes. I thought that the romantica room would have slower-paced songs, with more energetic ones in the main room. But the music was slow-ish there.
-I did not see the "amazing dance level" I was expecting. This probably has something to do with me dancing on1 but I don't think it's the only factor (I danced salsa with maybe ~50 different followers over the 3 days, only 1 rejected an on1 dance but I could tell several struggled to follow on1. Mostly not a problem though). The level of dancing was definitely higher than what I can get on local weekly parties, but it was not (or at least did not seem to me) higher than the local salsa-only festival I attended in December. I consider the followers' level at ElSol last November to have been higher (and by a margin) than at Magic (with all the caveats that this is subjective, somehow influenced by chance/randomness, etc)
-I saw some very weird stuff on the dance floor (mostly from leads). In fragrance collecting, some people reach a point where they are bored with conventional perfumes and deliberately buy weird-smelling, even intentionally off-putting ones. Now I believe there may be a salsa-equivalent to this (clapping on the clave and circling around your follower for more than a minute - and that being during the normal flow of the song, not a break/whatever - is strange to witness. And it was far from the only bizarre thing I saw).
-It was somehow too cliquish for my taste. Nothing outright unwelcoming, but not knowing anyone on the "salsa festival circuit" (or whatever you want to call it) makes it more difficult to like the event.
-Bachata social (unlike the workshops) was awful. After ElSol, I did not think it's possible to have a worse bachata social experience at a well-attended (even if salsa-focused) festival. Boy, was I wrong! At the height of the Saturday party there were maybe ~50 people in total in the bachata room. The other times I went in there it was between 20-30 people (or even less on Sunday), a third of them not dancing. The interesting part is that most followers I danced with at the workshops I never saw at the social (granted, I spent limited time in the bachata room) I don't really know why they even bother to have bachata at that festival given this level of attendance.

My personal inference from the festival:
I should probably not attend any other events heavily frequented by on2 dancers. Everything with "mambo" in the name is out.
I apparently will need to go to ElSol again this year, given that since returning to dancing last year, it was my best salsa experience.

 

[MamboCha]

Review: MSSF Magic Slovenian Salsa Festival

My first European congress so a virgin view of things, if you will. A typical 4 day event, with preparty and 3 days of 4 hour afternoon socials and night parties till 7. In addition to main ballroom, also bachata and salsa romantica rooms about the same size. Parties only no workshop, and pretty much danced all the hours. Hard life wouldn't you say?

Ratio: clearly more followers on the sides, but many seem to be newbies and watchers hardly dance. So actual effect is balanced enough for anyone wanting to dance.

Level: big enough variaty from paid artists to YouTube stars to groupies who tend to crowd in the front, to learners who stay in the back. Many on1ers, including decently good ones.

Music: said stated in earlier posts, not bad in anyway just bland, most tracks mid tempo. Hardly any fast or slow, or dura or charanga or guaguanco. 2 or 3 each of cha cha, cumbria ish, pachaga for the whole night, that's about it. But most hardly care it seems. But to me, I truly wonder if djs have infused most songs with that standard background salsa beat and rhythm, hence the bland sounding, even well known songs. While it got progressively better, nothing gave me the wow this is good music feel.

Highlight: my share of dancing with the stars in front, including with that smiling gal talked about in this or another thread. Also my biggest dose of on1 decently good dances. But most fun was with this gal. First time in preparty, a salsa totally in sync and all smiley. Then Saturday Night up in bachata room, again totally in sync and all smiley. But now a guy was filming, not from the side but moving around us. So asked and he replied, she's my wife. Lucky you, I told him.

Lowlight: my share of no's. A paid artist next to me, so asked when song ended. She smiled and said sorry but really wanna go change. And I realized she was literally dripping. Glad she declined and to her credit, saw her later in different outfit. 2 other YouTube stars, took a second to turn on that look, shook, and continued sitting. I'm including this for newbie leads reading this, goes to show no can happen anywhere to anyone. Don't let it define your night.

Overall a worthwhile investment of time and money, for once. With so many great events throughout the year for just about every weekend, I'm inclined to move on...

 

[Offbeat]

But if you close the party, you must close in style!

I have closed the parties by not dancing the last song…beat that style!!

 

[MamboJazz]

But there is a scramble to find a GOOD dance partner at the end, and if you're not coupled up already or really famous, it can be a challenge to find a good partner with whom you can close the party. But if you have a special someone already, then it's a non issue.

At the same festival in 2023 - last song on Saturday evening Party. I kid you not the entire room was coupled up or knew exactly who they were going to dance with at the end and I got stuck with a drunk who ended up elbowing me in the nose.

I don't care nor need to close the party anymore. But if you close the party, you must close in style!

I don't understand the problem. Why must the last dance be special? The overall quality of dances throughout the night makes my feeling.

At Porto festival I was changing my shoes at 3 a.m. to leave when suddenly a favourite song came up, where it's fun for me to hit the accents. As DJs use to play 90% songs I never heard before this is special. So I jumped hastily into my dance shoes again grabbed the next girl - and she turned out to be the only bad dancer of the whole night. It was painful to my beloved song. But it didn't affect my good feeling about the night when I left the hall. But others seem to need the happy end?

 

[MamboJazz]

Apparently, everyone is doing bachazouk now.

In EU yes, and that's problematic as it demands proper technique, but most haven't danced zouk before so they lack the technique.

-the overall good music was generally too slow for my tastes. I thought that the romantica room would have slower-paced songs, with more energetic ones in the main room. But the music was slow-ish there.

Had the same impression last year, I got sometimes romantica bored in the main room.

-Bachata social (unlike the workshops) was awful. After ElSol, I did not think it's possible to have a worse bachata social experience at a well-attended (even if salsa-focused) festival. Boy, was I wrong! At the height of the Saturday party there were maybe ~50 people in total in the bachata room. The other times I went in there it was between 20-30 people (or even less on Sunday), a third of them not dancing. The interesting part is that most followers I danced with at the workshops I never saw at the social (granted, I spent limited time in the bachata room) I don't really know why they even bother to have bachata at that festival given this level of attendance.

Exact my impression last year. But you focus on the amount of dancers? I was shocked from the low level of dancing, and I'm not even good in bachata. They should close the bachata room and make something else in it. But they just copy&paste the program each year, apparently there is no willingness to change anything as long as people come. That's different from the DanceHouse events where the organizer experiments always new things.

My personal inference from the festival:
I should probably not attend any other events heavily frequented by on2 dancers. Everything with "mambo" in the name is out.

But Magic ("Magic Slovenian Salsa Festival") has no mambo in the name?

 

[MamboJazz]

2 other YouTube stars, took a second to turn on that look, shook, and continued sitting. I'm including this for newbie leads reading this, goes to show no can happen anywhere to anyone. Don't let it define your night.

Happened to me as well. The girls sitting on the edge of the DJs stage are a high rejection risk crowd. They hope to dance with some stars and maybe get filmed then.

 

[dermont]

But you focus on the amount of dancers?

It was the more important factor in my opinion. When the room is basically 70% empty all the time, that completely kills the vibe for me. I found the bachata dance level to be mediocre but not explicitly (notably worse than bachata-only festivals, comparable to ElSol - but ElSol had a lot more people in the bachata room). From the ~15 followers I danced bachata with, 2 were almost complete beginners and 2-3 more I had mediocre/bad dances with - the rest were OK/good.

I think the perception of the follower's level is very much determined by your style of dancing - I dance a mix between Moderna and sensual and the direction I focus on seems to go more and more towards sensual. I basically never do more complicated hand "tricks" and double+ turns any more (at most one-and-a-half turns) because followers seem to like that style of dancing a lot less than in the 2017-2020 period. So I've adjusted.

 

[Chris_Yannick]

I don't understand the problem. Why must the last dance be special? The overall quality of dances throughout the night makes my feeling.

It's more about the feeling I got from the crowd. It is cliquish. But was better the year after when more people knew who I was.

Being seen and 'known' changes the experience dramatically.

Can be felt in many EU festivals., including Magic as described below.

was somehow too cliquish for my taste. Nothing outright unwelcoming, but not knowing anyone on the "salsa festival circuit" (or whatever you want to call it) makes it more difficult to like the event.

 

[Smejmoon]

Being seen and 'known' changes the experience dramatically.

Being know can surely help, but being a novelty gives you extra couple dozen invites.
So it makes sense to be in the good shape first night(s) so you can transition from novelty to know (as one people want to dance with I hope).

Get drunk later once you are in the friend zone, if you have to.

Myself I dedicate big part of first night(s) to find unknown dancers and learn about their dance and musical preferences, so that I can steer my experiences for the rest of event better.

 

[WellHelloThere]

A short rant about Magic Mambo Weekend in Zurich. It's not a full review, because I went only to the saturday night party. But I can finally show my talent in criticising after so many enthusiastic reviews.

I've been there two years ago and I deeply disliked the location. It's a modern build community center for the local neighborhood. It has grey concrete floor and grey concrete walls, ugly as hell for me. Very functional for mopping the floor afterwards, that's acknowledged. Wanting to salsa dance in such a place you need a very functional sober mind. Many swiss have this functional mind, so it may work for them. So why return? I heard friends going, great dancers were to be expected, so I had FOMO. I learned my lesson to not follow it.

Having arrived I saw a "Sold out" notice on the door. I had my ticket booked online, but it became clear it would get crowded. Unfortunately I had only remembered I don't like the location in general but not how small the floor is. I came early, the first half hour was still enough place to dance, but followers were disappointing (me being spoiled by great nights elsewhere). As always the better dancers came later - but later it was overcrowded. As a lead I have to take care of my followers safety, so my brain was 90% busy with observing the surrounding. I had mediocre dances even with followers I normally have a great time with. It was also very follower heavy but I couldn't take advantage of it because I finally gave up and waited outside for the time to arrive to take my night bus home.

Organizer adressed the critics of the small room during the show speech: it's difficult to find a good location, and for sure even more in an insanely expensive place like Zurich. But they forgot to draw the limit earlier, it resulted in a pointless night for me.

Regarding finding affordable rental: they invite each year Adolfo & Tania giving nine hours of bootcamp & workshops. They return each year so obviously they pay them well. Plus DJs from NYC. This thing is centered around celebrity workshops but pointless for social dancing. I would skip the celebrities and spend the money for a bigger location, but that's my point of view. I guess it will continue as it is and people will return for bootcamps - and FOMO.

Thanks for giving your thoughts. I was planning to go but decided against it. Mainly based on venue and limited social dancing times.

I like their usual Friday venue but that is too small for a weekender.

 

[MamboCha]

Budapest Weekend

Thought a quick write up would be helpful for future community reference...

After Magic stayed in Ljubljana and explored the charming city. Sadly no weekly events. Even a long running Wednesday salsa no longer running. After 6-hour bus ride, it was the start of Budapest weekend, guided by the up-to-date local calendar latinfo.hu.

Friday night. 2 salsa listed so randomly picked one. It was15min bus ride from town center, my Airbnb, in what seemed to be a standalone event space. Salsa had the biggest room, bachata the smaller, and front for entry and drinks they hauled in. Salsa had good crowd, easily 100+, throughout the night yet not packed so room to dance. All on1ers and learners, only few decent intermediates. Ratio was slightly lead heavy, and most had no sense of timing. Bachata pulled in at best dozen couples, mostly leaned sensual, though level again low. Left around midnight while still hopping. No idea if this was the better/worser of 2, but definitely among the worst $15 cover ever paid.

Saturday, 2 salsa and 2 bachata but all further away. Passing rain in forecast, so stayed in.

Sunday bachata and Monday salsa, 10 minutes walk, same place in a side room of a sports bar. At best dozen couples dancing each night, again low level. Left after 30min, luckily neither had cover.

Overall disappointing, as the relatively best Friday salsa was worse than Zagreb Sunday social wrote about earlier. That was 5 euro in a city less than half the population. Also, long popular latin dance place in town center, Havana Bar, is now closed. Wonder if that may have also impacted the local scenes? Of course this is my one weekend snapshot so could be just an unlocky time. Budapest is a great city but now really expensive, on par with major western cities.

For those of you coming to Live2Mambo in 2 weekends, good luck! No regret leaving beforehand, as had a very enjoyable and balanced trip combining solid dancing with pleasant sightseeing in Zagreb, Ljubljana, Budapest. Look forward to your reviews!

 

[MamboJazz]

Budapest Weekend
...
Overall disappointing

Sad to hear that. At congresses I met several very good followers from Budapest so I thought it may be fantastic there, but when I asked them about their local scene their faces were not enthusiastic. I faintly remember them saying "once a month" there would be a good social somewhere. Given what you describe I understand these girls don't go to the places you visited.

My impression is at congresses we live in a dream world where the best gather because only them agree to spend that big amount of money for it. I'm looking forward to the dream world in Budapest in two weeks

 

[Chris_Yannick]

Overall disappointing,

You need to hit up the Salsa Core school, which basically hold the monopoly of good On2 events in Budapest. They are passionate about it.

I'm not surprised the other events were disappointing.

 

[Offbeat]

But others seem to need the happy end?

no. It is icing on the cake. Something nice to have.

 

[MamboJazz]

There was a Jack and Jill salsa competition on Saturday afternoon which cut away from the announced social dancing time. But it was okay, a part of the salsa crowd seemed to be interested in watching and judging the dances.

Found a video from the salsa jack'n'jill at Hamburg Big 3, posted from DJs perspective. In the middle the judges with smartphones to write their judgements (I see Panagiotis & Myrto), that's copied from modern WCS competitions.

In Bachata it has become massive at festivals during the last year or two, about 50% of bachata in my feed is from jack'n'jill's now. Everybody seemed reluctant in the beginning, but yeah - that was back then. Bachata is full of twens, they like to compete naturally.

Will salsa festivals try the same direction now? We know there have been competions already 20 years ago but it never took off. Salseros are a bit older in average so might be less interested. I also doubt it fits well to salsa, but who knows. I would try to compete, would lose and then be p*ssed. Could be fun or not.

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[gelsey]

Found a video from the salsa jack'n'jill at Hamburg Big 3, posted from DJs perspective. In the middle the judges with smartphones to write their judgements (I see Panagiotis & Myrto), that's copied from modern WCS competitions.

In Bachata it has become massive at festivals during the last year or two, about 50% of bachata in my feed is from jack'n'jill's now. Everybody seemed reluctant in the beginning, but yeah - that was back then. Bachata is full of twens, they like to compete naturally.

Will salsa festivals try the same direction now? We know there have been competions already 20 years ago but it never took off. Salseros are a bit older in average so might be less interested. I also doubt it fits well to salsa, but who knows. I would try to compete, would lose and then be p*ssed. Could be fun or not.

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

Random observation: Reading her Instagram post about her love for dancers and local energy feels oddly disconnected from how minimalist this DJ comes across to members of that very scene in real life. But I guess this passion for competing in this generation shows an increased focus on self-image and recognition, amplified by social media. Dance also naturally attracts people with stronger narcissistic traits.

 

[Chris_Yannick]

Will salsa festivals try the same direction now? We know there have been competions already 20 years ago but it never took off.

IMO, we don't need another performative event in Salsa. Salsa congresses have too many performances and competitions already. J&J would be a middle ground like performative social dancing, which we already have with cameras and social dancing. Adding competition on top of that sounds greedy and unnecessary.

If it were to replace competition and/or performances, then I'd be more of a proponent for it, but I don't see that happening. Thus I don't see J&J becoming a permanent fixture in Salsa scenes.

 

[salsera13579]

Happened to me as well. The girls sitting on the edge of the DJs stage are a high rejection risk crowd. They hope to dance with some stars and maybe get filmed then.

As one of the girls who was sitting there, I think you put too much judgment into your thoughts. There may be someone who fits your imagination — I don’t know.

In my case, I was sitting there because my feet hurt so much and I was completely exhausted. But I refused to leave because I love the music, and my mind still wanted to feel the party vibes while being surrounded by people I know.

So I sadly had to reject some people when they asked me to dance because my feet were in pain. Then I danced again when I felt my feet could handle a couple of songs, and then I came back again to take a break for a few songs.

Rejection is a very subjective thing, and I think it’s better not to judge too much when you don’t fully know what’s going on in another person’s mind.

 

[MamboJazz]

In my case, I was sitting there because my feet hurt so much and I was completely exhausted. But I refused to leave because I love the music, and my mind still wanted to feel the party vibes while being surrounded by people I know.

So I sadly had to reject some people when they asked me to dance because my feet were in pain. Then I danced again when I felt my feet could handle a couple of songs, and then I came back again to take a break for a few songs.

I agree that sitting people are more likely to reject because more likely to be tired. So normally I don't ask sitting people but at the DJ stage it's different because nearly everyone is sitting there. That's completely fine if you reject with a short smile indicating to need a rest, and I also understand when you get asked too often your reaction may become shorter. I would do the same.

But MamboCha referred to "turn on that look":

2 other YouTube stars, took a second to turn on that look, shook, and continued sitting.

Every man who has passed years asking followers in latin social dance knows what "that look" means, without any further description necessary. And "that look" happens more likely in the stage area.

I guess women also tell sometimes each other about some other "that look" from men where women immediately understand what is meant while men might need some further description.