[Tango-L] Tango Festivals

[Tom Stermitz]

Different festivals meet different needs. Some festivals have famous  
show couples with performances, others specialize in social tango with  
great DJs, others cater to students sleeping on dorm room couches.

I like the idea that some festivals draw from across a region, while  
other have a national draw where you can meet your friends from San  
Francisco or New York.

The term festival might be a marketing angle or wishful thinking on  
the part of the organizer. Two pairs of teachers without a cast of  
nationally-known DJs is more like a "workshop weekend", even if you  
have 20 out-of-town visitors. Another example, Tango Colorado puts on  
a special outreach weekend with 15 or 20 Denver teachers and Saturday  
milonga. Is that a festival?

It would be informative if your list had attendance figures. Depending  
on the structure of the event, these numbers aren't always so cut-and- 
dried. Maybe 150 people buy a full pass another 100 drop-in, and  
another 50 just do one event.


On Jul 29, 2011, at 7:45 AM, Shaun Sellers wrote:

> Recently there was some discussion about which was the first tango  
> festival. I have tried to compile a list of all current tango  
> festivals in North America for this year:
>
>    http://www.gatewaytango.org/festivals.html
>
> If I am missing anything, please let me know. The growth seems  
> remarkable. But with over 50 festivals a year, one may wonder if we  
> are reaching the saturation point.
>
> shaun
>
> 2011 TANGO FESTIVALS in North America:
>
> Jan 14-17, TODOS SANTOS (Mexico) - TodosTango Festival
> Jan. 20-23, HOUSTON - Houston Tango Festival
> Jan. 28-31, ANN ARBOR - Fire and Ice
> Feb. 3-6, HONOLULU - Hawaii Tango Paradise Festival
> Feb. 9-14, PORTLAND - ValenTango
> ...

Tom Stermitz
c: 303-725-5963
http://www.tango.org
Denver, CO 80207