Articles
Practical guides for anyone organizing dance festivals and competitions.
Classes and workshopsClasses and workshops at a dance festival: how to organize them
Beyond the stage, the classroom. How to offer classes and workshops at your event: choosing instructors and a schedule, spots and age ranges, pricing and discounted bundles, registration and payment without spreadsheets, and a certificate for every class — even for participants from other countries.
Read the guide → MusicMusic and soundtracks at a dance festival: format and organization
The choreography may be beautiful, but if the music doesn't play, the number is over before it starts. Why MP3 is the standard, quality and volume, the time limit per category, how to collect files without chaos, and the running order on the day.
Read the guide → Choosing softwareHow to choose software for a dance festival
When the spreadsheet can't keep up anymore: what dance festival software is, which features are essential, the criterion that matters most (ease of use for the school), pricing, support, and a checklist to help you decide.
Read the guide → FormatShowcase or competition at a dance festival: which to choose
Not every group wants to take the stage to be compared. The difference between performing and competing, when to use each, and how to offer both at the same event — from the beginner school to the high-level group.
Read the guide → SchedulingSchedule and stage order for a dance festival: how to build them
The schedule is the backbone of the day. How to group the heats, split them into sessions, calculate real stage time and changeovers, fit in rehearsals, and publish the running order — without staying up all night on a spreadsheet.
Read the guide → BudgetHow much it costs to organize a dance festival: budget and sponsorship
The question that holds back anyone who wants to get started: what it costs, where the money comes from, how to price registration, how to land sponsorship, and how to make the festival pay for itself — with no surprises at the end.
Read the guide → VenueHow to choose the theater for your dance festival
The right venue makes the event flow; the wrong one is a headache all day long. Audience capacity, stage size and flooring, sound and lighting, dressing rooms, accessibility, and what to negotiate in the theater contract.
Read the guide → RecruitingHow to attract schools to your dance festival
The #1 pain point for organizers: filling the event. How to win over directors and teachers, get onto the school's calendar, build trust, make registration easy, and bring the school back every year.
Read the guide → Event dayDance festival day-of checklist: your game-day guide
A full-day roadmap — from the day before to the closing — covering check-in, backstage, stage, judges and awards, plus a checklist ready to print and follow.
Read the guide → AwardsAwards and certificates at a dance festival: how to organize them
How to recognize groups without awarding too much or too little, and how to issue certificates for all participants in bulk — with no misspelled names and no all-nighters.
Read the guide → PromotionHow to promote a dance festival: a practical guide
Who to talk to, when to start, which channels to use, and what to post to attract the right schools and fill the seats — with a promotion calendar ready to follow.
Read the guide → StructureStyles and categories in a dance competition: how to structure them
How to set up your festival's competitions — styles, substyles, categories by number of dancers, and age groups — without overcrowding or emptying out the categories.
Read the guide → RegistrationsDance festival registrations without spreadsheets
Why manual tracking falls apart as the festival grows, what usually goes wrong, and how to automate registration without losing control of the event.
Read the guide → JudgingJudges and scoring in a dance competition: how to organize them
Choosing judges, criteria and weights, how scores are combined, tiebreakers and — the most important part — how to finalize the results without math errors.
Read the guide → Ready-made templateDance festival rules: guide + ready-made template
What every set of rules needs to include, explained clause by clause — and a complete template for you to copy and fill in with your festival's details.
Read the guide → Complete guideHow to organize a dance festival: the complete guide
From the rules to the awards: a step-by-step guide to everything you need to decide and prepare to get your festival off the ground — format, categories, ECAD, registrations, judging and event day.
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