Swing Dance Extravaganza

Swing Dance Extravaganza, the biggest swing dance event in San Diego, will return after the pandemic hiatus. It will happen as a part of the San Diego Jazz Fest (note that there are many other opportunities to dance at this 5-day event) and will to go on literally for hours (up to 10 of them) to live music of multiple bands in a huge - and crowded - Golden State ballroom of the Town and Country resort. See the event site at [[hidden], the band schedule is [here]([hidden]). Note the Swing Showcase on the previous night (Friday the 25th). The crowd: the past events attracted literally hundreds of dancers, this year is anybody's guess. The mix used to be typical for San Diego: varying ages, slightly more followers than the leads. Bringing an own lead or follow might be wise, as the dancing is not limited to the main hall (see below), other, smaller, rooms with live music also have tiny dance floors, but finding a partner there is near-impossible. While at it, note that the dancing opportunities at the festival are not limited to the Saturday evening. The venue: the Golden State ballroom is huge, but the dance floor occupies just a small part of it and used to get crowded, sometimes requiring floorplanning skills from the lead. Quality of the floor is OK, dance shoes will work. The swing crowd used to congregate in the far left corner, to the left of the stage. Logistics: tickets ("badges") for Saturday are $40 (the purchasing system appears to be broken at of early November, on-site badges are slightly more expensive), the parking is extra, but reasonable (the main resort garage is available, when full, an overflow lot next to the building is provided). The music: expect a wide variety of very danceable live music. High Society Jazz Band in particular plays excellent music in a variety of tempos, Sue Palmer is typically on a faster side. More Info below.