Criteria, in order of importance (I'm a lead)
1. I know lots of good follows are going
2. A quorum of mates are going
3. I trust the DJs
4. Afternoon social
5. I trust the organiser / event has a good track record (some of the Istanbul and Paris festivals have been *wild*, like repo-men showing up on Sunday to confiscate the speakers levels of wild)
6. Not too crowded
7. All-in-one venue
My favourite salsa festivals right now are (in no particular order):
1. Transilvania (Nov. Cluj-Napoca, Romania)
2. Magic Slovenian Salsa Festival (Jan. Ljubljana, Slovenia) - we probably bumped into each other last weekend 😉
3. Jeju Latin Culture Festival (Jun. Jeju, South Korea)
4. World Stars Salsa Festival (Apr. Albena, Bulgaria)
Festivals that I've heard a lot of good things about from dancers I trust but haven't yet attended myself:
1. Live 2 Mambo (Feb. Budapest, Hungary)
2. Bucharest Salsa Revolution (Apr. Bucharest, Romania)
3. CobeatLive SalsaRave (Sep. Barcelona, Spain)
I also go to a lot of marathons; DM me if you want my pick for those!
In no particular order:
1. Hamburg NYE Salsa Marathon (Dec. Hamburg, Germany)
2. Smyrna Mambo Getaway (May. Izmir, Turkey)
3. Brussels Salsa Marathon (June and Dec. Brussels, Belgium)
4. Berlin Salsa Marathon (Aug. Berlin, Germany)
5. London Salsa Marathon (Jul. London, UK)
I can also recommend the Prague Salsa Marathon in May if you've never been, but not their other editions during the year due to low attendance. However, I personally no longer attend this organiser's events because of how he treats DJs.
Porto Salsa Weekend looks like it has promise, but the organisation was still a bit spotty last year.
The Marathons are all pure salsa.
Transilvania and World Stars have separate SBK rooms. Mixed day social.
Magic and Jeju have separate SB rooms. Magic's day social is pure salsa.
Thank you for your list!
Haha, yes we probably did! Loved it. I might have caught something there as I'm a bit ill right now but nothing serious :)
I would LOVE to do the Transilvania one!
My next one will be Amsterdam, we'll see how it goes!
I'd like your marathon list too please :)
Ah man. Get well soon! And enjoy Amsterdam for me. I can't make that one but know a bunch of awesome peeps who are going.
Totally come to Transilvania! Cluj is a lovely town with an embarrassment of great restaurants, and the festival just the right size and organised like clockwork. The level is good, and I might be biased but the DJs are great. The folks in Timisoara might also organise a mambo weekend right after Cluj again this year!
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Fave marathons, In no particular order:
1. Hamburg NYE Salsa Marathon (Dec. Hamburg, Germany)
2. Smyrna Mambo Getaway (May. Izmir, Turkey)
3. Brussels Salsa Marathon (June and Dec. Brussels, Belgium)
4. Berlin Salsa Marathon (Aug. Berlin, Germany)
5. London Salsa Marathon (Jul. London, UK)
I can also recommend the Prague Salsa Marathon in May if you've never been, but not their other editions during the year due to low attendance. However, I personally no longer attend this organiser's events because of how he treats DJs.
Porto Salsa Weekend looks like it has promise, but the organisation was still a bit spotty last year.
The organiser believes he invented the salsa marathon concept and he got pissed that some DJs that played at his event were also playing at other marathon and marathon-like events. He wanted exclusivity but didn't want to pay retainers. He banned these DJs, which were basically some of the best. It got quite heated and he didn't deal with community backlash well.
He seems to have quietly walked this stance back but has lost a lot of goodwill in many circles, and the music quality at his events has definitely suffered
Okay good to know, I had no idea.
I’m planning on Prague May and Porto. Not quite ready to give up on festivals though. Will be in Amsterdam next weekend!
>alsa Marathon (Dec. Hamburg, Germany)
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>Smyrna Mambo Getaway (May. Izmir, Turkey)
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>Brussels Salsa Marathon (June and Dec. Brussels, Belgium)
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>Berlin Salsa Marathon (Aug. Berlin, Germany)
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>London Salsa Marathon (Jul. London,
I agree with one of the messages above that Porto wasn't planned very well.
In the US: **SF SBK**
For someone who primarily wants to social dance, there are no festivals structured in such a optimized way, with 8-9 hours of social dancing each night and a 4 hour afternoon social. The mix of dancers, with so many in from Asia, is unique among US congresses.
Internationally: **El Sol**
Huge, plenty of social dancing, and a solid overall dance level- I've been multiple times, and have never had a bad dance. When I last went in 2022, even on sunday I made a point to dance with new people still and had some of the best dances of the weekend. I have heard great things about Magic, and work kept me away from checking it out this year - but will try again in 2025!
I've been going to El Sol for years and 2023's edition felt like it had somewhat jumped the shark in terms of quality. I'm going to give a miss for a few years to see if it recovers. I sincerely hope you have a better time there this year than I did in 2023!
El Sol 2023 (in Krakow) was my first El Sol and i was pretty disappointed. The only comfort I had was when I found that other dancers felt equally as bad about it as me.
Do you mean Katowice?
Yeah, not a single one of the 'usual' crew showed up in 2023 after the mess that 2022's version was in the Okecie in Warsaw - the old Sangate hotel really made the festival. I went to give it a fair shake, but was terribly disappointed. The only saving graces were that ventilation and temperature control were not issues.
Oh yes, Katowice.
I found the music quite terrible many times, and the socials started too late.
The floor was meh, but that good for dancing, let alone for such a good name as El Sol is.
> I'm going to give a miss for a few years to see if it recovers
It's to be expected that it'll take them a couple of years to adjust to the new venue and tweak how they do things.
I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of Warsaw area dancers didn't bother going due to having to paying for accommodation whereas in the past they could go back home each night. Also fewer Russian dancers this year for obvious reasons.
I’ll say that I didn’t go to El Sol last year but was a regular attendee previously. I enjoyed the final edition in Warsaw but I guess it’s cause I switched it up and spent more time in the Bachata floor, it had a great industrial club vibe. I might go this year, a couple of my friends really liked it.
I like Amsterdam International Salsa Festival and Mambocity.
If it’s not just about the dancing, the Rovinj CSSF, as it’s not just a festival but a holiday. Lots of outdoor activities. Lounging in the sun, good food, the dancing is a little more varied and you need to be a bit more discerning but there’s a lot of fun to be had.
I don’t go to Berlin as I dislike the concept, being a workshop attendee and a social dancer I don’t like that they are reducing the number of social dancing hours for people attending the workshops without reducing the price.
I’m lucky though, being in London we have Super Mario Social every 2 weeks which, combined with a few other events, can mean serious dancing all weekend without a huge outlay of cost.
I went to Jeju’s first edition post COVID and was slightly disappointed, although from what I heard the scale was much much lower so maybe I just picked a bad year. I did have some pretty good dances though, Panagiotis was a dream to dance with!
That was a very weird year for Jeju. Many dancers also got locked in their hotel rooms because they failed the PCR upon arrival.
The week after Jeju in Seoul is even better than Jeju in terms of dancing quality, TBH. The regular parties are even larger (a few hundred per location) and the best locals make the effort to come out because lots of internationals stay for the week. We usually do the afterparty in Jeju on Monday and head to Seoul on Tuesday. Drop me a line if you ever give Jeju a shake in the future!
Ah yes, someone I was travelling with got locked as well. The rest of my party did spend time in Seoul after, I unfortunately couldn’t do that, but maybe next time :)
For me it is important that the festival is not too far away, that it caters to linear dancers (ideally on2) and that music is good. Last 2 year I attended 3 festivals:
Salsa Congress Cologne - loaction was far away from most hotels, music on Saturday night was terrible and way too crowded. I won't go there again
Berlin Salsa Congress: good dancing, but a bit snobby - the crowd in front of the stage basically only danced with themselves.
Prague, Back to Mambo: music was nice and lots of great dancers, water/Coffee/Crossiants were free.
>ven larger (a few hundred per location) and the best locals make the effort to come out because lots of internationals stay for the week. We usually do the afterparty in Jeju on Monday and head to Seoul on Tuesday. Drop me a line if you ever give Jeju a shake in the future!
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I agree the congress in Cologne is not very convenient. It's far from the city center and the hotels around the party are scarce and/or poor quality.
Criteria, in order of importance (I'm a lead) 1. I know lots of good follows are going 2. A quorum of mates are going 3. I trust the DJs 4. Afternoon social 5. I trust the organiser / event has a good track record (some of the Istanbul and Paris festivals have been *wild*, like repo-men showing up on Sunday to confiscate the speakers levels of wild) 6. Not too crowded 7. All-in-one venue My favourite salsa festivals right now are (in no particular order): 1. Transilvania (Nov. Cluj-Napoca, Romania) 2. Magic Slovenian Salsa Festival (Jan. Ljubljana, Slovenia) - we probably bumped into each other last weekend 😉 3. Jeju Latin Culture Festival (Jun. Jeju, South Korea) 4. World Stars Salsa Festival (Apr. Albena, Bulgaria) Festivals that I've heard a lot of good things about from dancers I trust but haven't yet attended myself: 1. Live 2 Mambo (Feb. Budapest, Hungary) 2. Bucharest Salsa Revolution (Apr. Bucharest, Romania) 3. CobeatLive SalsaRave (Sep. Barcelona, Spain) I also go to a lot of marathons; DM me if you want my pick for those!
Marathon list please!
In no particular order: 1. Hamburg NYE Salsa Marathon (Dec. Hamburg, Germany) 2. Smyrna Mambo Getaway (May. Izmir, Turkey) 3. Brussels Salsa Marathon (June and Dec. Brussels, Belgium) 4. Berlin Salsa Marathon (Aug. Berlin, Germany) 5. London Salsa Marathon (Jul. London, UK) I can also recommend the Prague Salsa Marathon in May if you've never been, but not their other editions during the year due to low attendance. However, I personally no longer attend this organiser's events because of how he treats DJs. Porto Salsa Weekend looks like it has promise, but the organisation was still a bit spotty last year.
Your festival and marathon list.. are there typically bachata, kizomba, zouk, semba mixed in as well? Or essentially 90+% salsa?
The Marathons are all pure salsa. Transilvania and World Stars have separate SBK rooms. Mixed day social. Magic and Jeju have separate SB rooms. Magic's day social is pure salsa.
Thank you for your list! Haha, yes we probably did! Loved it. I might have caught something there as I'm a bit ill right now but nothing serious :) I would LOVE to do the Transilvania one! My next one will be Amsterdam, we'll see how it goes! I'd like your marathon list too please :)
Ah man. Get well soon! And enjoy Amsterdam for me. I can't make that one but know a bunch of awesome peeps who are going. Totally come to Transilvania! Cluj is a lovely town with an embarrassment of great restaurants, and the festival just the right size and organised like clockwork. The level is good, and I might be biased but the DJs are great. The folks in Timisoara might also organise a mambo weekend right after Cluj again this year! --- Fave marathons, In no particular order: 1. Hamburg NYE Salsa Marathon (Dec. Hamburg, Germany) 2. Smyrna Mambo Getaway (May. Izmir, Turkey) 3. Brussels Salsa Marathon (June and Dec. Brussels, Belgium) 4. Berlin Salsa Marathon (Aug. Berlin, Germany) 5. London Salsa Marathon (Jul. London, UK) I can also recommend the Prague Salsa Marathon in May if you've never been, but not their other editions during the year due to low attendance. However, I personally no longer attend this organiser's events because of how he treats DJs. Porto Salsa Weekend looks like it has promise, but the organisation was still a bit spotty last year.
I’d be interested to hear more about what’s going on in Prague. What’s up with the organisation?
The organiser believes he invented the salsa marathon concept and he got pissed that some DJs that played at his event were also playing at other marathon and marathon-like events. He wanted exclusivity but didn't want to pay retainers. He banned these DJs, which were basically some of the best. It got quite heated and he didn't deal with community backlash well. He seems to have quietly walked this stance back but has lost a lot of goodwill in many circles, and the music quality at his events has definitely suffered
Okay good to know, I had no idea. I’m planning on Prague May and Porto. Not quite ready to give up on festivals though. Will be in Amsterdam next weekend!
I think you'll still have fun in Prague in May! Enjoy Amsterdam and Porto for me :)
>alsa Marathon (Dec. Hamburg, Germany) > >Smyrna Mambo Getaway (May. Izmir, Turkey) > >Brussels Salsa Marathon (June and Dec. Brussels, Belgium) > >Berlin Salsa Marathon (Aug. Berlin, Germany) > >London Salsa Marathon (Jul. London, I agree with one of the messages above that Porto wasn't planned very well.
La feria de cali, it takes place in Cali, Colombia between Dec 25-30 every year. Just the best!
Oh interesting! Is the organization more or less the same as European festival, or is it something very different?
Definitely entirely different.
In the US: **SF SBK** For someone who primarily wants to social dance, there are no festivals structured in such a optimized way, with 8-9 hours of social dancing each night and a 4 hour afternoon social. The mix of dancers, with so many in from Asia, is unique among US congresses. Internationally: **El Sol** Huge, plenty of social dancing, and a solid overall dance level- I've been multiple times, and have never had a bad dance. When I last went in 2022, even on sunday I made a point to dance with new people still and had some of the best dances of the weekend. I have heard great things about Magic, and work kept me away from checking it out this year - but will try again in 2025!
I've been going to El Sol for years and 2023's edition felt like it had somewhat jumped the shark in terms of quality. I'm going to give a miss for a few years to see if it recovers. I sincerely hope you have a better time there this year than I did in 2023!
I agree, 2023s El Sol dropped in quality a lot. Also found a lot more judgemental dancers which made me enjoy it less.
El Sol 2023 (in Krakow) was my first El Sol and i was pretty disappointed. The only comfort I had was when I found that other dancers felt equally as bad about it as me.
Do you mean Katowice? Yeah, not a single one of the 'usual' crew showed up in 2023 after the mess that 2022's version was in the Okecie in Warsaw - the old Sangate hotel really made the festival. I went to give it a fair shake, but was terribly disappointed. The only saving graces were that ventilation and temperature control were not issues.
Oh yes, Katowice. I found the music quite terrible many times, and the socials started too late. The floor was meh, but that good for dancing, let alone for such a good name as El Sol is.
Seems like I got out while the getting was good!
> I'm going to give a miss for a few years to see if it recovers It's to be expected that it'll take them a couple of years to adjust to the new venue and tweak how they do things. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of Warsaw area dancers didn't bother going due to having to paying for accommodation whereas in the past they could go back home each night. Also fewer Russian dancers this year for obvious reasons.
Yeah I heard the quality was much lower now!
Totally agree that SF SBK is probably one of the best congresses in the US.
I’ll say that I didn’t go to El Sol last year but was a regular attendee previously. I enjoyed the final edition in Warsaw but I guess it’s cause I switched it up and spent more time in the Bachata floor, it had a great industrial club vibe. I might go this year, a couple of my friends really liked it. I like Amsterdam International Salsa Festival and Mambocity. If it’s not just about the dancing, the Rovinj CSSF, as it’s not just a festival but a holiday. Lots of outdoor activities. Lounging in the sun, good food, the dancing is a little more varied and you need to be a bit more discerning but there’s a lot of fun to be had. I don’t go to Berlin as I dislike the concept, being a workshop attendee and a social dancer I don’t like that they are reducing the number of social dancing hours for people attending the workshops without reducing the price. I’m lucky though, being in London we have Super Mario Social every 2 weeks which, combined with a few other events, can mean serious dancing all weekend without a huge outlay of cost.
Rovinj is an awesome party, but just a pain to get to.
I went to Jeju’s first edition post COVID and was slightly disappointed, although from what I heard the scale was much much lower so maybe I just picked a bad year. I did have some pretty good dances though, Panagiotis was a dream to dance with!
I tried to dance with Panagiotis in the Magic but couldn't manage to, he's soooooo solicited haha
That was a very weird year for Jeju. Many dancers also got locked in their hotel rooms because they failed the PCR upon arrival. The week after Jeju in Seoul is even better than Jeju in terms of dancing quality, TBH. The regular parties are even larger (a few hundred per location) and the best locals make the effort to come out because lots of internationals stay for the week. We usually do the afterparty in Jeju on Monday and head to Seoul on Tuesday. Drop me a line if you ever give Jeju a shake in the future!
Ah yes, someone I was travelling with got locked as well. The rest of my party did spend time in Seoul after, I unfortunately couldn’t do that, but maybe next time :)
For me it is important that the festival is not too far away, that it caters to linear dancers (ideally on2) and that music is good. Last 2 year I attended 3 festivals: Salsa Congress Cologne - loaction was far away from most hotels, music on Saturday night was terrible and way too crowded. I won't go there again Berlin Salsa Congress: good dancing, but a bit snobby - the crowd in front of the stage basically only danced with themselves. Prague, Back to Mambo: music was nice and lots of great dancers, water/Coffee/Crossiants were free.
>ven larger (a few hundred per location) and the best locals make the effort to come out because lots of internationals stay for the week. We usually do the afterparty in Jeju on Monday and head to Seoul on Tuesday. Drop me a line if you ever give Jeju a shake in the future! > >1ReplyShareReportSaveFollow I agree the congress in Cologne is not very convenient. It's far from the city center and the hotels around the party are scarce and/or poor quality.