On Salsa Festival Karlsruhe (2/2)

Overall - Fun and friendly congress with a family feel to it. Sufficient dancers to dance till daylight. The recommended hotel had a delicious breakfast that opens at 6:30am, a perfect time to return home from the after party. Good level within the classes, though I can't say I found any of them particularly challenging. Still, there was always something to be learnt. Strongly recommend taking classes as there wasn't much to see about town and at the end of March, German weather is still pretty dreary! I had a great time, but that was primarily down to the people with me and our internal jokes. Was also thrilled to discover another amazing Parisian dancer - how could I have thought I'd met them all already!

Let's break it down:

Prices

1. Flights - Ryanair fly to Karlsruhe from London. Otherwise, you can fly to Stuttgart but it's an hour away by road. Ryanair flight prices are reasonable, but bear in mind that there's a 30 minute drive into Karlsruhe from the Baden Bade Karlsruhe (FKB) airport. We were fortunate to be accompanying an artist (friend) and thus benefitted from a shuttle pickup in honour of his starry status! Without this, you have to get up super early and find a bus. Not sure that's something I'd be willing to attempt.
2. Pass prices - Slightly cheaper than your average congress, at c.€150 (I think). We were fortunate again to have an artist friend who got us a great group deal thus significantly lowering the price.
3. Hotels - I would strongly recommend that anyone going to this congress stay in the 4 star recommended Renaissance hotel (or with friends if at all possible). The breakfast alone makes this worthwhile, but the congress organisers have negotiated a price with the hotel that makes it reasonable. Packing a third camp-bed into your room will also help to bring the cost down. It works out to c.€40 a night, which includes the magnificent breakfast (worth €19). To give you an idea, breakfast included absolutely everything from eggs and bacon, potatoes and sausages to muffins and croissants, fruit, tomatoes, smoked salmon and even cucumbers. And it was all presented in a plentiful buffet style. I should mention that the beds, for what little time we spent in them, were really comfortable too! The hotel is situated at about 7 minutes walk from the congress venue and across the road from the greatest ever Chinese restaurant. It also happened to be the only restaurant within sight, but having tried the food on two nights, I simply would not recommend for anyone to bother wasting their time looking for anything else. There's a supermarket across the road too, in case you wish to buy supplies - beware though, it's closed on Sunday.
4. Bottled water - €3 for a Fanta, water was about €2 (I think). To be honest, it wasn't the kind of congress where you dance so much that you get dehydrated and desperately need to drink. They also served pasta meals that looked pretty appetising for €5 in the venue cafeteria. However, in the after party, where things got a lot hotter, the bar people were happy to serve tap water on request. A bit of a random thing though was that they didn't let people into the congress until they'd checked their coats into the cloakroom. Many a male had to explain that they liked to keep their stylish jackets on to dance! Luckily the "friends of artists" status that we had, enabled us to waive this obligation and happily park our bags and coats on the stage next to where we were dancing!

Venue

1. Floor - New hardwood. By which I mean "impossible ice rink". Seriously, it was pretty dangerous unless you were wearing trainers! I did a couple of workshops with no shoes on, a couple in socks (pretty dangerous) and then eventually settled on my newest pair of jazz shoes, which had a life saving rubber sole. On the plus side, it was not tiring on the knees. But still, dancing with an amazing performer and almost catapulting to the floor is not exactly how you make your (salsa) dreams come true! Luckily, most leaders adapted pretty quickly so after the first night, the floor was no longer much of a problem.
2. Number of dance floors - Just the one. And they only played mambo. And there was plenty of space. Some bachata, some chacha, nothing else. The music was basically perfect! Weirdly, a number of Italians were dancing Cuban moves on2 - I haven't really seen this before - strange, but good!
3. Workshops vs. parties - Workshps, shows and parties were in same venue and the after party was a 20 minute walk away in the much smaller "Candela" club. Not that there were any space problems by 4am! Workshops started at 11am and went through till 6pm. There were three workshops per hour and these were well spread out so that all the styling workshops were at the same time so that men would not be caught without partners during the partnerwork sessions. The only issue with the workshop rooms was that two had a better sound system than the room in the middle where any sound was pretty much drowned out!
4. Show seats - No seats - We sat on the floor and visibility was fine. The session on Saturday was slightly long though and thus a little cramping.
5. Show visibility - Fine from where I was sitting! On Sunday, the shows and party were in Candela and it was tightly packed with low visibility. For those of us who were close enough, Thomas Guererro's tears during his performance with Santo Rico were plain to see. Totally raw and emotional performance from them, dedicated to a friend lost to cancer. Beautiful stuff.
6. Workshop visibility - Decent, artists were highly elevated for all workshops. Moreover, by Sunday afternoon, there weren't that many people still in attendance so there was loads of space. Furthermore, my somewhat inexperienced partner and I managed to get personal help by three of the Santo Rico team to help us figure out the move. Where else will you get that kind of personal attention and the opportunity to try out what it's supposed to feel like with one of the guys?
7. Workshop organisation - Not much need given size of rooms/venue

Crowd

1. Workshops - People spread out nicely during workshops. There was no one who was obviously struggling. The material wasn't really difficult per se, but they weren't easy enough to be boring either.
2. Parties - Great level of dancing amongst the Italians, Croatians and Brits. A couple of very decent Germans and an amazing Peruvian from Paris. Artists were fully accessible and since there were so many of them, they were almost unavoidable. I would say that the general level was below average but people were still competent dancers. You couldn't just close your eyes, spin round and point - the odds of landing on an amazing dancer doing that were pretty slim (you could totally pull this off in Athens 2008 and be blessed with an epic dance every time!).
3. Size - Small. There was never a point where I couldn't see my friends and I never had to queue for a dance either.
4. After parties - These were held in a different venue which effectively felt like a dingy club rather than a temporary sanitised marquis tent. Much more character, lots of dark little corners, two bars to lean against, pillars to hide behind and couches a-plenty. Unfortunately, air conditioning appeared to be amiss, so after the big conference hall dance floor, moving to the Candela club felt a bit like dancing in a dark sauna! We quickly got over that though and warmed to the place, as it had way more character. This was the place that only the hardcore made it to and where we happily kept dancing till way past daylight - without knowing it was daylight too (dancing in the dark clearly has some benefits!)…The music at the after parties was much the same as in the main party, though arguably a little slower. They were definitely worth going to as they provided a more fertile environment for actually getting to know other dancers as well as for simply fooling around!

Line-up

1. Quality of teaching - Good standard, though I would have said the workshops were slightly on the easy side. The fact that I can still remember the Santo Rico styling shine more than three weeks later is a testament to this (for those who don't know, I have the memory of a goldfish). The boys were doing Juan Matos' partnerwork all night and still nailing it a couple of weeks later as well…Surely it shouldn’t be that easy? (or maybe we're just that good?!)
2. Choice of workshops - Three per hour, they ran from 11am till 6pm. They managed to line these up such that all the partner vs. solo workshops were aligned. This way, no men were desperately seeking partners at any time.
3. Number of shows - Only 3 on Sunday (good), a handful on Friday (good), but what felt like millions on Saturday (not so good). Mostly good quality apart from one couple who seemed to be doing an appalling impersonation of Luis Vasquez and Mellissa Fernandez…But still, just a little too many...
4. Artists on dance floor - Once the shows were done, most of the Italians (i.e. the artists) were out in force and social dancing. Santo Rico generally spent a lot of time drinking and were (as a result) very good sports.
5. DJs - DJ Lobo did a great job as did whoever were the others. Great tracks, great songs, never once had a complaint about the music at this congress.
6. Bands - No bands played during this festival.

Location

1. Centralised - Didn't really see much of the town (oops), but the congress venue was 5mins walk from the hotel and the hotel was c.15mins walk from the after party venue. They had some shuttles in between all of these and people were taking cabs too, but it took about as long to walk as it did to wait and hop into the shuttle/taxi.
2. Distance from airport - 20 minutes hotel to airport but only with a pre-organised special-treatment for artists service. Otherwise, a lot longer using a bus...
3. Time from London - 1 hour by plane (from Stansted)
4. Number of days off work - Two required. Ryanair travel at weird and wacky times.

For more information check out the website: http://www.salsafestivalcandela.de/

So here is my constant criteria comparison for the 5th Candela Festival in Karlsruhe (2011 edition):

On Karlsruhe - Candela Festival 2011

Let me just start by saying that I had an amazing time. I went with a group of friends who made the whole experience super fun and memorable. The moments I most remember from this congress are the fillers - those moments when you're waiting for breakfast to start, going for dinner before the parties, joking around between the party and the after party, or hanging out in a reception area of some sort. These fillers are also those dances that you weren't expecting, like when you find someone awesome while on the way to the bar or the loo, when a new hilarious "dance style" is inexplicably invented or when you choose to dance with a friend for the fifth time because you simply can't get enough!

Karlsruhe wasn't just about dancing, though the dancing was definitely good, it was about laughter and joy and emanated a family feeling that made us all feel bonded by the end of it.

From the strictly salsa point of view, the congress falls a little short of the likes of Zurich, but the organisation, the quality of the shows and the good vibe all made up for this. As did the insane quality of the breakfast in our hotel! The festival can be characterised as small and friendly, but I would not recommend it to a solo traveller. This is a congress where you want to take a group of friends and if possible good dancers with you. This year, the noticeable groups included a bus load of Italians, two taxis worth of Croatians and a minibus of UK dancers. Everything about my Candela experience was chiefly related in some way to these three groups.

Where a review of Zurich or Berlin might be timeless with only minor tweaks and improvements every year, any review of the Candela Festival stands at a point in time - much as the organisation was flawless, there's a definite sense that without the same people or subjects of amusement, it simply wouldn't have been the same. Will I be going back next year? Probably not - we've had our fun and it's a little too much hassle to get to unless you benefit from special help from the organiser. Still, it will be remembered as one of the most fun "whole-congress" experiences that I've had since Salsorro 2010. Indeed, the big events can almost stand on one part - e.g. Athens 2009 would have been epic if it only consisted of the Marc Anthony concert, Zurich 2011 could have dispensed (imho) with all but the after parties, but with Karlsruhe, like with Salsorro, it was about the whole package.

So great times had by all, but a sense that without the smiley Croatians and the amusing observations of typically Italian antics, the congress simply would not have been the same.

My next post will provide more standard congress comparison criteria, but I thought it important to give a few extra personal comments about this one, in line with the familial feeling of the congress.

On Salsafestival Switzerland 2011 (Review)

So here are my thoughts on The Zurich Salsa Festival 2011:

Overall
Let's break it down:- This is probably the biggest and best congress in Europe and simply unmissable to any congress freak. The artist lineup was amazing, the number of dance floors was unsurpassed but the after parties alone made the whole event worthwhile attending. Was it the best congress ever? No. Why? Quite frankly it was too big. Was it still memorable? Beyond belief. Why's that? Did I mention the after parties?

Prices

1. Flights - Getting to Zurich is easy. As a European transport hub, you can get there from virtually anywhere, at virtually any time. The airport in Zurich is specially geared to getting customers off the plane and into the city within half an hour. It's painless. The prices tend to be expensive, as is the case with everything that's even remotely related to Switzerland, but if you book early, or are flexible with times, it can be done reasonably cheaply. From the airport, a train into Central Zurich takes about 10mins and costs c.CHF6.30 (if my memory serves me right). If you attend the after parties, you will need to take Monday off, but you can happily work Friday and head to the airport after work without missing much of the event.
2. Pass prices - Standard options, high prices, booking early helps, group bookings will get you a reduction of 10%. A full pass is at least CHF 200, so prepare to part with the cash!
3. Hotels - There are loads of hotels to choose from, with the cheapest and most conveniently located to be found in the red light district. These are a pleasant 15-20 minute walk from the venue, maybe 10 minutes walk away from the main station and big supermarket (which, beware, is closed on Sunday, but otherwise the cheapest food option around). We stayed in Hotel Marta this year, a 2 star hotel that was 5 minutes from the station. It's decked out like a hostel, but newly redone and clean. Breakfast was included - simple but plentiful. Staff were friendly despite our breakfast shenanigans!
4. Bottled water - Not even worth it! Ridiculous prices for everything inside the venue. Attempting to smuggle in water bottles to the congress is a great idea, just be careful, they tend to check bags, though they do this superficially. Note that they were also checking for advanced photographic equipment this year.

Venue

1. Floor - Hardwood. Perfect for dancing, but note that dancing all night long will eventually take its toll and you will end up with sore feet anyway! Blame the dancers or the music, not the floor.
2. Number of dance floors - Six! Mambo, Cuban, Romantica, Kizomba, Beginners', Tropical (I think)….Unless you fit into one of the latter five categories, there's strictly no reason for you to leave the main mambo room until they kick you out for the after party. There were some weird sets this year and a number of us spent some time on Saturday night moaning about the music, but this was still not sufficient to push me to go looking for new pastures - there were simply too many good dancers in the main room to be able to walk away from it!
3. Workshops vs. parties - All in same venue so all good. Workshops started at 11am and went through till 6pm. Dancing through the after parties makes morning workshops pretty tricky…6 choices of workshops per hour means there are many options for whatever you like and yet it was well-planned so there were not too many conflicts. My personal beef was that they kept putting Yamulee at the same time as Maykel Fonts. Understandable, but still annoying!
4. Show seats - Maybe 5% of show watchers get seats upstairs and everyone else has to stand. It's worth getting there early to find somewhere to dump your stuff and sit…All in good preparation for the after party of course! Note that the shows pretty much started on time - insert your Swiss clock reference here...
5. Show visibility - Limited from the seats which put you either too far away or at an angle. To be honest, it's a choice between foot preservation and a better view...
6. Workshop visibility - Decent, artists were highly elevated for all workshops.
7. Workshop organisation - Not much need given size of rooms/venue

Crowd

1. Workshops - Good level within workshops means that artists are able to teach according to plan
2. Parties - Very high level of dancing - no complaints. Artists easily accessible on dance floor and happy to dance with everyone (or me anyway!)
3. Size - So large it was difficult to tell whether you weren't seeing people because they weren't attending the congress or because they were on the other side of the dance floor. I'm not kidding when I say I ran into people on Saturday night at 5am for the first time all weekend. It was difficult to grab more than one dance with any one person and if it weren't for the after parties, I probably would not have danced with any person more than once in the weekend. Honestly, it was slightly too big a congress and lost some of its character and charm because of this.
4. After parties - These were brilliant and provided the best memories of the congress. Between 4am and 7am+ every day, this was the time when only the hardcore, brilliant salsaholics remained. Amazing music by DJ Lobo, fantastic dancers, all bachata/zouk lovers relegated to a separate room - the hard core salsa freaks were there for the picking. The music was awesome and it was sheer bliss. Without these sensational little add-ons to every night, Zurich this year would quite frankly not have been as memorable!

Line-up

1. Quality of teaching - Great lineup. Nothing to critique other than the fact that Juan Matos was quite obviously drunk during his final workshop.
2. Choice of workshops - Wide ranging - made it easy to avoid doing bachata/zouk/swing style classes. Note that I actually skived all workshops on Sunday except the final Yamulee advanced class - but I was tired and we were having fun bumming around Zurich...
3. Number of shows - One set on Friday (didn't see them), two on Saturday with only a 45 minute break in between, one on Sunday. The crowd was so large that a couple of people fainted at one point! On Sunday they premiered a new concept - one song, multiple choreographies. 6 shows were put together by some of the world's most recognised names, all to the same song. These were all brilliant and a joy to watch! The quality of the shows in Zurich was generally exceptional. They had thousands of artists yet only the best performed on Saturday and Sunday. As a result, the shows were definitely worth watching and not sleeping through.
4. Artists on dance floor - Yup. Slight grouping around the DJ booth, but mostly accessible to all (by which, again, I mean ME!). Some properly mingled and others were there to party amongst themselves. Most turned out to dance on Sunday night once the pressure of the shows was over. I think I danced with over 10 artists on Sunday, pretty much by accident. My favourites were Adrian and the two Victors - smooth and smiley, it doesn't get much better than that! I had never danced with Victor from HYM before and I have to say, he has gone straight to the top of my list of all time favourite artists to dance with - exceptionally smooth lead, great musicality and winning smile!
5. DJs - Big shout out to DJ Lobo who spun most of the after party music. Wasn't too impressed with the main mambo music, but found it hard to put a thumb on why exactly it felt "off". Can't remember who was behind the decks, and don't want to name and blame anyway!
6. Bands - Victor Manuelle opened on Friday. Amazing sound, amazing showman, fantastic charisma. Completely memorable experience. Maybe that's why the dancing afterwards felt a little flat?

Location

1. Centralised - While not in one single hotel and involving daily walks around Zurich, the city is so small and beautiful that it must be forgiven. Everything is easy to find and easily accessible. Restaurants are expensive, but there's a cheap kebab shop doing fast food on the way down one of the cobbled streets that makes great food for far less money than anywhere else and in no time at all. Definitely a favourite!
2. Distance from airport - 20 minutes hotel to airport - 10 mins on the train form the Hauptbahnhof.
3. Time from London - 1.5 hours by plane
4. Number of days off work - Only one needed - purely for recovery purposes!

For more information check out the website: Salsa Festival Switzerland website