Check out the various locations in this handy map and the below picture of Hagley College campus:
Social event details:
Read on for all the things to know about being in the right place at the right time with the right expectations for what’s about to happen for all the social events throughout CSF.
Friday Arvo Kia Ora Tour
In town a little early on Friday and keen to see some of the sights and meet some new friends ahead of the social dance? Join in on our walking* tour of city highlights:
3pm meet at Margaret Mahy playground on Armagh St (or come earlier for a play!). Hitting some key ?tautahi rebuild points along the way**, we’ll start with gelato in New Regent St then on to Te Whare Tapere, Turanga, Te Pae, Riverside Market, the South Frame Walkway and finishing with a pint under Te Kaha at Dux Central.
Not interested in the walk? Then just come for the Gelato! Or the Pint! (we’ll have some outside bar leaners booked at Dux Central for 4:30 pm)
Please note: the tour part is weather dependent – if it’s yukky then we’ll just convene at the pint part instead. Check on the facebook event for the call if it’s looking dubious.
* jazz steps optional (but encouraged!)
** a local friendly dancing architect will hopefully also be joining us to provide extra insight and general good vibes
Friday Pre-Game Haps
The rolling start continues with a few more optional bouts of fun before kick off at the main event later (to mix a few sports metaphors).
6 pm dinner option The Arts Centre has some great food trucks if you wanna head over and eat and hang and mingle just outside Altiora, at 25 Hereford St (where we’ll be busy setting up inside!).
7 pm “Fun and playfulness in Lindy Hop” taster class
For the hour before the band kicks off we will be having a bonus taster class to ease into things. Not an intro to dancing class, this is instead aimed at dancers at all levels who believe that swing dancing isn’t about being perfect, but about being silly and having fun. You won’t learn any new moves – but you’ll learn how to have more fun with the moves you know, including tools to connect better with your dance partner, build more musicality and be more creative and playful in your dancing. Run by visiting Copenhagen dance teachers Alex and Patricia Kjerulf, who believe that swing dancing should be fun and that it’s not about chasing perfection but about being silly and expressing yourself – what a vibe to start the weekend with!
Please note: the Friday night social venue is mint, but humongousness is not one of its key features so please bring a spirit of flexibility if you’re joining us as it might be somewhat cosy for a class setting if everyone comes, but this taster sounded too fun to pass up!
If you aren’t joining for the taster class, we will ask that you wait outside before the class finishes and the band kicks off at 8 pm – there’s shelter and food trucks and friends so it will be fun too, but do swing by and grab your rego tattoo to avoid the 8 pm crush at the door!
Friday night social
The band is AFTER FIVE, who are actually playing after 8, or rather, right on 8 pm. So come along and don’t miss out on this fun small group swing band playing a set of swinging classics to get the dancing part of the festivities properly under way with the wonderful Emma Summers at the helm.
Where: Altiora at the Christchurch Arts Centre, 25 Hereford St
When: 8 – 11+ pm
Who:Full pass and social pass holders. No individual ticket sales for Friday night due to capacity limitations
Refreshments: Cash bar available and food trucks outside
Floor: The floor is some sort of dance lino on wood, it’s not super hard, but it is often on the slippery side especially for those in leathers or suedes so please choose your footwear accordingly and consider bringing a back up pair.
Things to keep an eye out for: Dance bingo: swing t?puna edition! Teacher demos!
Post-event hangs: After we finish up at Altiora we’ve booked some bar leaners at Fat Eddie’s on Oxford Terrace from 11:30 pm. Nominally a jazz bar it will more likely be filled with inebriated yoofs, and a band playing pub style covers, but it’ll help keep the party rolling for a bit for those who don’t need pre-workshop sleep loading (which we suspect most people will be sneaking off to do) and the classic swing era music posters in the bathrooms are worth the trip on their own.
Saturday Old-School Social
It’s Valentine’s Day so what better way to celebrate than lovin’ on a classic old-school-style Swingtown event social dance as we go back to our festivals-at-school-gym-roots for what’s going to be an epically good night! Features to be excited about: 1) SIDELINE SWING bringing their amazing big band energy, we LOVE dancing to them! 2) space glorious space and lovely wooden flooring hooray – both of which sounds even more amazing when you realise there will be MORE THAN 150 DANCERS there to jazz your little hearts out with all evening!
Where: Hagley College Gym 1
When: Doors open 7:45 pm, band starts at 8, yeah!
Who: Full and social pass holders, individual event ticket holders, extra tickets only if not sold out.
Dress code: A nod to Valentine’s Day. Think pinks, reds, florals, love hearts – whole outfits or just a wee touch.
Refreshments: BYO only – as we said, classic old school event. We recommend a water bottle, and please consume other eats and drinks in the adjacent outside seating area rather than in the hall (school rules!).
Things to keep an eye out for: The Legend awards! Switching comp!
Afterwards: Climb aboard the walking bus for a 1 km stroll or find a friend to carpool over to the late night venue.
Saturday Late Night Blues
You saw them here first folks, after a wee band switcheroo, GRAVEL ROAD BLUES has one goal in life: to smash out some choice music for blues dancing! Stood up specifically for CSF, from some of the greats of the Christchurch Blues Club (Adam McGrath on lead vocals! Steven Gill on guitar! Sean Burke on bass guitar! Daniel Pawsey on drums! Glyn MacDonald on keys!) with a name like this we can almost taste the gritty blues music already, so we’re looking forward to an epic blues party until the wee hours with some fab DJs taking over when the musicians are exhausted. The smokey blues bar vibe (without the literal smokiness) of A Rolling Stone will provide the cosy setting we need to really get into the mood, while staying fueled and fluid-ed.
Where: A Rolling Stone, 579 Colombo St
When: Band on from 11:30 pm – scurry on over promptly from the main dance to maximise your band time. 3 am finish time for the keen beans and night owls.
Who: Full and social pass holders only – no individual tickets due to capacity
Dress code: Anything goes (but might we suggest a change of shirt or two might be wise!)
Refreshments: We know cheese toasties are de rigeur for Swingtown late night events but the Rolling Stone staff are staying up late for us and need to be paid (and also we need them happy for us to come back tomorrow!) So fancier toasties, yummy drinks, and other bar snacks will be available, but the tradeoff is $$ required to acquire these – thanks for helping us support the bar!
Floor: Polished concrete floor in what we could call “snuggle size” so recommend your squishiest dance shoes to support your joints and your best and most considerate floorcraft!
Things to keep an eye out for: Nothing but great social dancing, cosy chats and general good vibes.
Sunday night Battle of the Bands
Not a literal battle (please don’t tell us you’re surprised!) but what this delightful name means is that we’ll have two bands switching sets with each other with no band breaks to lose momentum. This night is (without hyperbole) going to be easily the biggest and best single swing dancing event EVER in the history of Swingtown Rebels and quite probably the universe (in our totally unbiased opinions). With Silverlocks Quintet’s Benny Goodman style small band with a lot of swing trading off with the big sounds of the Ellesmere Big Band there’ll be something to suit everybody’s tastes. Both these bands play regularly for Swingtown Rebels and know just what it takes to keep us dancers very happy, all set in the spectacular Great Hall you will feel like you’ve stepped back in time to the heydays of swing.
Where: The Great Hall, Christchurch Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora
When: Doors open 7:45 pm, we highly recommend being there so you can be on the floor at 8 pm when Silverlocks kicks off and not miss a moment of the magic, right through until 11 pm.
Who: Full and social pass holders, individual event ticket holders, extra tickets only if not sold out.
Dress code: We’re not making any rules but you’d probably be silly not to dress up a bit for such an epic night!
Floor: Beautiful wood
Refreshments: Cask bar available inside and The Chippy food truck available outside for the best hot chips.
Things to keep an eye out for: An extra special treat from some of the Swingtown Rebelettes (and friends)
Afterwards: The friendly walking bus is scheduled again for another 1 km jaunt across town, or grab a friend to carpool
Sunday Late Night Last Blast
Some will say that the last night late night is where the real magic lies in attending a dance weekender – you’ll be slightly tired, you’ll be very high on dance endorphins, you’ll have a room full of new BFFs, and some great DJs throwing down their favourite swing and blues grooves. Come and enjoy the sweet sweet fruit of all your dancing this weekend along with the sweet sweet drinks and good food at Rolling Stone.
Where: A Rolling Stone, 579 Colombo St
When: 11.30 pm – 3 am.
Who: Full and social pass holders only – no individual tickets due to capacity
Dress code: Comfort
Refreshments + Floor: Same venue, same deal as last night.
Things to keep an eye out for: Will there be a soul train? A chicken dance? A zombie attack? Some other mass delusion? Nobody knows (actually) but whatever happens you’ll only find out if you come! .
Monday Recovery Mode
Part one: soak
If you’re still around and have the energy, drag yourself down to He Puna Taimoana, the New Brighton hot pools for a 12:30 pm soak (at last checking there were still tickets available here). It’s an easy bus ride (Number 5 on the yellow line from the central bus exchange to New Brighton) or a 15 min drive.
Part two: after match
Post hot pools grab some takeaways and bevys on your way and head up to the inestimable Jess McLachlan (and fam)’s legendary house, garden and pool (check your welcome email for the address) from 3 pm for sun, chill tunes, optional swims, camaraderie, fun, icecream (provided), repeat, beaut! Note: this is subject to nice weather – if unsure check the fb event for a rain check option, probably at Little High.
Other Stuff: you oughta know
Photography
We’ll have a roaming photographer or two at the main social events snapping some pics to memorialise the fun. Pics will be shared afterwards on our facebook event page, and if others take photos we’d love to see them shared there too!
Privacy is always a consideration with event photos for those who are sensitive about having their image shared online. It’s often a bit tricky to manage avoiding certain people while peering down a camera lens and multiple photographers to share the word amongst, so if you don’t want to be published, please:
– flick us an email with a picture of yourself so we can easily review the photo roll before uploading any
– failing that, chuck a thumbs down if a camera points your way and we’ll delete any pics with thumbs downs
– if any pics of you get uploaded that you don’t want up then flick us a quick email with a link to the pic and we’ll take it down.
Community and history
We finish with a reminder and a request: Lindy Hop and other swing dances and the music that they developed alongside originally arose in African-American communities particularly in Harlem, New York in the early to mid 1900s, while blues dance and music has its origins in African American culture across America – both arising despite the environment of oppression, racism and restriction experienced by Black people in that era. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, these dances are undeniably joyful, creative, and musical; and centre social connection. We are immensely fortunate and eternally grateful to participate as guests in this living cultural treasure (or African-American taonga) from our little corner of the world, so far removed from the home of these dances. With this in mind, we encourage you to honour the original and ongoing cultural owners of this dance by participating in all the Christchurch Swing Festival social dances with a spirit of joy, a sense of community and a creative celebration of rhythm and melody.