Festival and Travel Planner 2026

[Chris_Yannick]

The approach and expectations are different when people see a couple dancing alone vs. seeing a video from a social dance floor.

I have a feeling that new dancers don't find Salsa social dance videos all that appealing because they're long and chaotic with music they don't understand. People can't relate to that.

For the most part, the ones who appreciate Salsa social dance videos are Salsa dancers.

Non-dancers like those 20 seconds curated garbage and demos with carefully selected music that Bachata/WCS/Zouk often churn out. It takes them to a place where they want to daydream like they're in the spotlight with no one else around because dancing in a room full of other dancers scares the crap out of them.

 

[Offbeat]

I disagree. A lot of people celebrate good social dancing. That's why marathons still continue to be a staple in the Salsa community (at least in Europe).

People wanting to social dance is not the same as able to recognize or appreciate good social dancing. We are outliers and small minority. People are still attracted to performative aspects in a social dance. Marathons are attended by self-selected group that wants an opportunity to dance socially. It is similar to dancers that want to be in performance teams. There are a lot of performance teams everywhere. That is not an indication that most salsa dancers want to perform. There are what five or ten times more dancers who are not on any performance teams?

There is a lot of hero worship going on, but there is also a lot of good social dance worship going on as well.

Hero worship is natural. Social media is amplifying it. There is a whole swath of dancers who don’t know celebrities. I am sure as the algorithms have improved, some celebrity videos get pushed to anyone with slight interest in dancing.

Good social dancing worship by an average dancer? I am not convinced.

 

[Offbeat]

Being recorded on video is a great way to spot mistakes that would otherwise be ignored so I can't say that all this recording is bad.

Agree

On the other hand it feeds into this whole culture of needing to be seen.

Yeah it is called attention economy.

 

[Chris_Yannick]

Marathons are attended by self-selected group that wants an opportunity to dance socially. It is similar to dancers that want to be in performance teams. There are a lot of performance teams everywhere.

This is definitely region specific.

The number of people who crave good social dancing is quite high around here and extends beyond marathons.

Conversely, the number of performance teams is still low. But if I lived in a place where the local congress has 80+ performances in a given weekend, then I'd agree with you.

I'd also kill myself.

Performative dancing is not very common, especially in the On2 community. It can get cliquey and snobby for sure, but most On2 dancers want to dance with other good On2 dancers, but that's not the same as wanting to dance with celebrities or wanting to perform.

There are sooooo many better social dancers out there compared to celebrities that now everyone who has as bit of experiernce knows not to chase celebrities for 'good' social dancing.

There are levels to this. There is a sub category of dancers who fall in the 'not a celebrity yet but very good' and these dancers satisfy the majority and are even a bigger draw than celebrities.

 

[MamboJazz]

It takes them to a place where they want to daydream like they're in the spotlight with no one else around because dancing in a room full of other dancers scares the crap out of them.

Interestingly that's exactly what is shown in Bad Bunny's "Baile Inolvidable" video at 3:50 - after he was scared and humilated in the dance class suddenly a beautiful woman comes out of nowhere towards him and then only the two of them are shown dancing in spotlight together.

 

[Tertia]

A little review of Bucharest Salsa Revolution

Venue: Very beautiful, with high ceilings and some really nice lighting effects. The floor was marble (the space is actually called Marble Hall), and on Friday night it became extremely sticky/grippy. The organizers reacted quickly and treated the floor (chalk solution?) to make it more slippery - they may have even slightly overdone it, as on Saturday you could slide around the room. By Sunday, they hit the sweet spot: the floor felt great to dance on. Due to the size of the venue, the music was a bit distorted in the far corners.

Level: From my just-reaching-1.5-years-of-experience perspective, it was “wow, much high.” There were a few beginner/improver leads (I encountered 4–5), but overall the crowd was quite advanced compared to the Amsterdam salsa scene. Most of the leads I danced with emphasized musicality over endless complex turn patterns, which I really appreciated.

Catering: There was a bar with good bartenders, and at least one of the night parties had some free snacks. No free water was provided, but you could bring your own without any issues. Honestly, I suspect you could even bring your own alcohol in an unassuming bottle, and no one would notice (though I didn’t test this ).

Day socials: I loved them even more than the night parties. They last about 3 hours, and most attendees show up, so your chances of dancing with celebrities (if that’s your thing) are higher than trying to catch them during 8 hours of night social dancing. The vibe also felt much more relaxed and playful compared to the night.

Side bonus: Danced with @Smejmoon and really enjoyed it

Will I come back? Quite possibly. That said, I want to try the Zagreb Salsa Marathon next year, and I probably won’t have the time for both.

 

[Smejmoon]

What she said. Also I'm too old for these dances that start at 3am. I should have attended all daytime socials and maybe got up at 5am for end of night event.

 

[Smejmoon]

Anyone was last year?
When do good social dancers come out? What's the optimal nap schedule?
Shows at 1700 seem great, but do they disturb dancing in afternoon social?

 

[Peutetre]

View attachment 4803
Anyone was last year?
When do good social dancers come out? What's the optimal nap schedule?
Shows at 1700 seem great, but do they disturb dancing in afternoon social?

Shows at 17:00 seem to be a new format, last year the shows were at around 23:00.

The afternoon socials were fun, mixed music (Salsa,Timba, Bachata) (a bit cold outside) The dancing level at this event is quite low, to get better dances you will need to dance with the artists, but they are pretty busy dancing among themselves and doing animations. If you go with low expectations you might have a lot of fun.

 

[Smejmoon]

If you go with low expectations you might have a lot of fun.

Low expectations and a couple of honey pots - a key to happiness. - - Winnie the Pooh.
I'm going for live music and Bulgarians mostly.

 

[Peutetre]

Low expectations and a couple of honey pots - a key to happiness. - - Winnie the Pooh.
I'm going for live music and Bulgarians mostly.

The concerts will be awesome, the locals can barely dance so low expectations will need to kick in, lol. The food options are limited in that resort so be ready to eat the same thing every day

 

[eclo]

Am I just old and cynical, or are Congress lineups becoming less diverse? It feels like more events are relying on the same core group of artists/djs they usually have every year, it feels like there's rarely anyone outside the usual suspects and it and it all feels a bit stuck and stale.

 

[sunsoul]

Am I just old and cynical, or are Congress lineups becoming less diverse? It feels like more events are relying on the same core group of artists/djs they usually have every year, it feels like there's rarely anyone outside the usual suspects and it and it all feels a bit stuck and stale.

Who would you like to see? Any new names to share?

 

[MamboJazz]

I'm going for live music and Bulgarians mostly.

The concerts will be awesome, the locals can barely dance so low expectations will need to kick in, lol.

Interesting as both neighbouring countries Romania and Greece are famous for having lots of great dancers, so why should Bulgaria be different? I guess the springtime attitude at this seaside festival also comes into play and draws more of a party crowd.

 

[Smejmoon]

Interesting as both neighbouring countries Romania and Greece are famous for having lots of great dancers, so why should Bulgaria be different? I guess the springtime attitude at this seaside festival also comes into play and draws more of a party crowd.

There will be many good Romanian dancers. Good dancers in Bulgaria are mostly in Sofia.
I don't know much about Greeks, I tried to figure out what's going on in Athens, but failed earlier this year. Where those great ones dance?

 

[Peutetre]

Interesting as both neighbouring countries Romania and Greece are famous for having lots of great dancers, so why should Bulgaria be different? I guess the springtime attitude at this seaside festival also comes into play and draws more of a party crowd.

Yes, the Romanian dancers there had a good level, it was like 20 of them or less. I didn’t see greeks there.

 

[dermont]

the locals can barely dance so low expectations will need to kick in, lol.

The attendance of that festival has always been 75+% non-locals. It's also mostly bachata focused even before covid (meaning the majority of attendees are there for bachata and not salsa; because the event "capacity" is ~1500 people - it sells out every year some time in march/april, including this year - there are enough people to dance salsa with).

 

[Offbeat]

Am I just old and cynical, or are Congress lineups becoming less diverse? It feels like more events are relying on the same core group of artists/djs they usually have every year, it feels like there's rarely anyone outside the usual suspects and it and it all feels a bit stuck and stale.

This has almost always being the case. During the time when Albert Torres had a hand in every major congress in the USA, the headliners would be from the same core group.

Core group changes very slowly. Every year you will have one or two who start to establish themselves. One or two will slow down. The change happens very slowly. Someone who is new becomes established part of core group in three to five years. A few slowly drift out. That is why it appears like the core group doesn’t change.

 

[TurqoiseHexagon]

Finally making it back to San Francisco SBK+++ in November. I see they've turned the theme to an italian invasion this time around?

 

[Smejmoon]

Yes, the Romanian dancers there had a good level, it was like 20 of them or less. I didn’t see greeks there.

Romanians were the best, but I did get to dance with several good Greek dancers. And one high level. First time in my life.
If someone could message me her name, I'd be grateful. She was around 1.75, where other Greeks were short. And judging by different pass color and that she got swarmed before we got to talk, she's some kind of celeb.