At-a-Glance Schedule
Social dancing, workshops, competitions, and community hangouts!
High level information below. For more info, check out the full schedule.
Friday Night
7:00pm
Event Check-In & Beginner Lesson
Washington Hall (upstairs Ballroom)
7pm: Event Check-In
7:30pm-8:30pm: Beginner Lesson - no partner necessary!
8:30pm -12:00am
Social Dancing & Live Music w/ The Rhythm Wrecker Dance Band
Washington Hall (upstairs Ballroom)
2nd Band Break:
Community Flash Mob Bal Jam!
Saturday Day
11am-3:30pm Workshops
Washington Hall:
Advancers, Improvers, Learners
Dance Underground:
Perfectors, Beginners
Lunch break: 1-2pm*
For those at Washington Hall: there will be a Mediterranean food truck, Mr. Gyros, located downstairs in the parking lot of the venue!
4:00pm Saturday Special Topic Class
Shuffle and Switch -
The Fundamentals of Open Role Balboa
Open to ALL LEVELS
Washington Hall (upstairs Ballroom)
This game based Balboa social dance class invites you to explore both roles, switch between them, and discover new ways to empower your partner through musical conversation.
You’ll also learn how queer dancers have influenced the "switch" dance trend, both past and present, and how a non-binary approach to leading and following can honor and celebrate that rich history on the dance floor!
Saturday Evening
5pm-6pm Open Guided Practice
Washington Hall (upstairs ballroom)
6:00pm-7:15pm Competitors Meeting + Comp Prelims
Washington Hall (upstairs ballroom)
8:30pm-12am Dance w/ the Cascade Swing Orchestra
Washington Hall - Ballroom
1st band break (9:45pm-ish): Nov/Adv Finals
2nd band break (10:45pm-ish): Am Strictly Finals
12:30am-3am LATE NIGHT!
Salsa Con Todo (Fremont)
The party doesn’t have to stop after Saturdays main dance!
This is an unofficial late night graciously hosted by Swing Dance SCT, and not included in NWBF 2025 pass holder tickets.
Join us for late night dancing in downtown Fremont! There's street parking, late night food & drinks nearby, and a great floor for shuffling.
$5-15 sliding scale, Venmo at the door
(all proceed go directly to Salsa Con Todo Studio for letting us use the space).
Sunday Day
10am-12pm Community Hang
Coffee & Donuts @ Pratt Park
One of our favorite parts of BalFest is getting to hang out with folks! Bring your a frisbee, sunscreen, and a blanket, and we’ll bring the drip coffee & donuts.
We’re meeting at Pratt Park, which is only 6 blocks from Washington Hall.
12pm-2:45pm Workshops
Washington Hall (12-2pm)
Advancers, Improvers, Learners
Dance Underground (12:30-2:45pm)
Perfectors, Beginners
3pm-4:30pm Open Guided Practice
Washington Hall (upstairs ballroom)
*Instructors helping until 4pm
4:30-5:30pm Sunday Special Topic Class
Letting Go of “Should” - Communication, Creativity, and Adaptation
Open to ALL LEVELS
Washington Hall (upstairs Ballroom)
Sometimes in dance people fall into one of two camps - trying to find the one correct way to lead and follow or to fling it aside for an "anything goes” approach. It’s easy to think of following as getting something right or wrong, and of leading as signaling one specific thing. This class explores the space between that binary.
In this elective, we’ll explore the messy, nuanced, and deeply human side of partnered dancing—especially in Balboa. Designed for dancers who are comfortable with out & ins and toss-outs, this class invites you to go beyond correctness and instead tune into communication, creativity, and adaptation.
5:30pm-6:30pm Open Practice
Washington Hall (upstairs ballroom)
Sunday Evening
8pm -11:30pm
Social Dancing & Live Music w/ the Jacob Zimmerman Quintet
Washington Hall (upstairs Ballroom)
1st band break (9pm-ish): Switch M&M Finals
Extras at Washington Hall
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Established Sartorial Custom Clothing
VENDOR
All weekend long, check out this amazing custom clothing vendor upstairs in the balcony!
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Sunset Boba
FREE SATURDAY NIGHT TREAT
The first 100 guests to the dance Saturday night gets to grab a FREE BOBA TEA in the ballroom!