QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
We keep receiving similar questions about Euro Dance Festival, which we have summarized here. Just click on the corresponding section to open the answer. You have a question that we could not answer here? Then simply write us a message to info@euro-dance-festival.com.
TICKET AND HOTEL BOOKING
The hotel accommodation is booked directly at the hotels of Europa-Park independently from the festival ticket. Benefit from the special prices during the festival time if you book with the keyword "Euro Dance Festival". Included are the rich breakfast buffet and the use of the sauna and pool areas. All details about the hotel booking can be found here.
The festival is aimed at adults of all ages. If you want to bring your children, they are also welcome from the age of 12. Please note: Minors also pay the regular fee and must be supervised by you at all times, especially during the evening event. Those who are 16 or 17 years old can also take part unsupervised. The evening event ends at around midnight and all guests must leave the event rooms by 1 a.m. at the latest. As a precaution, we would like to point out that alcoholic drinks are also sold at the drinks counters; of course, all youth protection regulations apply here.
Bring your e-ticket either printed or as a PDF file on your smartphone to Rust. We will scan the QR code on it on site at the festival info counters - and that's where you will get your admission wristband. The info counters are open as follows:
Lobby Hotel Colosseo
Monday 17.30 - 21.00
Tuesday to Saturday (!) 8.30 - 10.00 a.m.
ATTENTION: Sunday here NO check-in!
Foyer EP-Dome
Tuesday and Sunday 8.30 a.m. - 7.00 p.m.
Wednesday to Saturday 8.30 - 21.00
The ticket only contains the name of the person who ordered it. If you have booked several tickets, the other guests do not need to be mentioned by name. This means that the ticket can easily be passed on to another person. Please note: The admission wristband for the six-day ticket must always be put on by our staff directly at check-in (the closure of the fabric band is sealed with special pliers) - therefore holders of such a ticket must appear in person. All other tickets are redeemed for paper wristbands that have an adhesive seal and can be attached by each guest themselves - so one person could take the admission wristbands for a whole group with them.
Make a regular booking and select the relevant ticket in the first step. In the second step "Continue to data entry", enter the name of the recipient under "Ticket holder", your e-mail address and check the box "This ticket is a gift".
Then click on "Continue to payment". There you enter your own billing address and bank details. As the invoice recipient, you pay for the ticket. The booking confirmation with the ticket in PDF form will be sent to the e-mail address given under the billing address.
You can then give the ticket to the person receiving the gift, either in electronic form (PDF) or as a printout.
You can book tickets online for up to ten people at the same time. The entire booking is then made in the name of the person placing the order; the other participants do not need to be named when booking. The person making the booking then collects all the admission wristbands etc. on site (with the exception of the six-day ticket, see below) and then distributes them within the group.
Please note: The admission wristband for the six-day ticket must always be put on by our staff directly at check-in (the closure of the fabric band is sealed with special pliers) - therefore holders of such a ticket must also appear in person.
Are you more than ten guests? Please send us a message to anmeldung@euro-dance-festival.com.
Yes, we offer both evening tickets (seats can be optionally booked) for Wednesday to Saturday to visit the shows as well as social dance tickets, which offer access to all party areas after the end of the shows. You can find out more about the ticket options here and all information about the evening events here.
If you just want to go shopping at the marketplace, leave a deposit - ID card or driver's license - at the entrance in the foyer EP Dome (area "Confertainment Center"). You can then spend one hour in the EP Arena for free. Please note - if the deposit is not redeemed after 60 minutes, you will have to buy a day ticket - at full price if you enter before the lunch break, at half price if you enter during the lunch break.
In case of non-appearance (no matter for what reason) 75% of the amount paid by you will be refunded. It is irrelevant whether the inability to attend is determined in advance of the festival or directly on the first day or evening of the festival booked by you. Discounts from raffles, partner promotions etc. will not be taken into account; except for monetary discounts such as gift vouchers purchased in advance.
All guests who have not redeemed their tickets purchased in advance for admission wristbands etc. by 5 p.m. on the last day of the festival booked in each case will be deemed to have been prevented from attending and will not be present at the festival. Partial payments are not possible, e.g. arriving only on Saturday does not entitle to a refund of a ticket for Friday etc.. Exceptions to this are bookings for several people on one invoice, where tickets are not collected on a pro rata basis. In this case, a refund of 75% will be made for the part of the booking for which tickets were not picked up.
This regulation does not apply to hotel bookings and other costs incurred by you in connection with the festival (such as travel, postage, etc.). Prerequisite for a refund is the notification in writing (by e-mail or letter) within 30 days after the end of the festival to Gutmann Events GmbH & Co. KG.
ARRIVAL & ADMISSION (PARKING / EP-EXPRESS)
All information on how to get here, whether by car or public transport, can be found on the Europa-Park website. Guests of the hotel resorts can park for free in the hotel parking lots.
With your admission wristband (pick it up at one of the festival information desks) you can travel for free on the "EP-Express" elevated train between the hotels and the EP Dome area, where more than half of all offers and the evening events take place, and where the marketplace awaits you.
Guests who are staying overnight or are only coming for one day (or only for the evening event) can park their car free of charge in the main parking lot of Europa-Park . To do this, please continue towards the park entrance (under the road) at the level of the "Colosseo" hotel (you can already see the large multi-storey "Colosseum" arch from a distance). Follow the road until you reach the main parking lot. From there it is only a 3-4 minute walk to the entrance to the EP Dome foyer. With your admission wristband you can then take the "EP-Express" elevated train between the hotel area and the EP Dome area free of charge.
The halls in the hotel area will be open from approx. 9 a.m. onwards. Admission to the EP Dome foyer (in the "Confertainment" area) begins at around 8:30 a.m.; the halls there also open at around 9 a.m.
Admission to the EP Dome foyer ("Confertainment" area) is on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening at around 7.30 pm.
The German Championships of Standard and Latin American Dances (on Thursday evening) have a slightly different schedule - all information can be found here. As well as the WSDC Trail Competition (on Saturday evening), here is the information.
Your e-ticket (see above). Warm clothes for the ways outside. Both for the way from the parking lot to the location, as well as to the elevated train EP-Express and between the halls.
The monorail "EP-Express" connects the two festival areas "Confertainment Center" and "Hotel Resort". The use is free for all guests. The journey time is between 10 and 12 minutes.
The first ride starts in the morning at about 8:30 a.m. at the "Hotel Resort" station, across the street from the "Colosseo" hotel (direct access through the underpass next to the parking deck). On Tuesday and Sunday evening the last trains leave about one hour after the end of the workshops. From Wednesday to Saturday the last ride is around 0.45 am.
The train runs throughout the day, weather permitting - there are usually two trains in operation on the circular route; likewise in the evening. In four out of five cases, it "fits" exactly so that you manage a complete area change between two workshops.
But of course it can also happen that a train "drives away in front of your nose". In this case it will only take a few minutes until the second train arrives - but if you want to be on the safe side, you can also take your car for the distance (approx. 1.5 km) and park it for free in the main parking lot of Europa-Park (5 minutes walk to the entrance to the EP Dome area) or in one of the hotel parking lots.
Snow and ice are the exception rather than the rule at festival times. But the EP-Express has to stop in the depot or in one of the stations in case of sub-zero temperatures or ice on the track for safety reasons; also in this case the fastest way between the two festival areas is the own car.
PROGRAM
A preliminary version of the timetable is online shortly after the start of the presale. It will be supplemented bit by bit. Unfortunately, some of our trainers cannot confirm their participation for the following year even in the second half of the year, since some tournament or shooting dates (especially in the cases of well-known TV dancers and jurors) are not yet finalized so far in advance. More info here.
Registration for the individual workshops is not required - you simply decide spontaneously on site which of the offers you want to use. If the level of the workshop is not suitable, you can leave the hall at any time and change to another workshop.
The workshops are divided into five levels of difficulty. You will find a corresponding indication for each offer in the timetable.
Beginner: Here simple basic steps and figures are shown. These workshops do not require any knowledge in the corresponding dances - but basic dance experience is an advantage.
Level 1: Basic knowledge of the respective dance is available.
Level 2: Knowledge of at least one year in the respective dance is available.
Level 3: Many years of experience in the respective dance or even first tournament experience are available.
Level 4: For coaches, competition couples B- / A- and S-class and professionals as well as dance teachers. IMPORTANT: By popular request, we have increased the level of difficulty in Level 4 (Standard / Latin); in the technique units, almost no step sequences are practiced! It is also assumed that the basic figures of the books (e.g. Alex Moore and Walter Laird) can be danced fluently. If you don't meet this requirement, you can of course watch the workshops (as a passive spectator next to the dance floor) - but to join in, we ask you to go to a level 2 or 3 workshop.
Please note: The levels are recommendations and the transitions are sometimes fluid. The trainers have the instruction to basically stick to the levels indicated in the timetable.
Despite all planning, it is not possible to determine in advance exactly which level is suitable and which is not. We therefore ask you to consider in advance which level is most likely to be suitable for you. For example, it does not make sense for a dance school student with little experience to choose level 3 or 4 out of pure interest. In this case, there would be the danger of getting in the way of the "dance flow" and taking little away for yourself, since detailed previous knowledge of figures and techniques is assumed to be fundamentally known here.
The workshops are mostly led by world or European champions as well as national champions and professional dancers of the various sections. Most of the trainers come from German-speaking countries; the teaching language is usually German. Trainers e.g. from overseas and other (European) countries teach in English. You will find a note in the schedule at the corresponding workshops.
Every year we receive hundreds of letters, e-mails, phone calls and posts with suggestions, tips and recommendations to please invite this sought-after trainer / dancer / choreographer or to consider that particular dance. We are happy about every hint and really look at every suggestion.
The festival grows from year to year, and even if we invite between 30 and 40 new trainers per edition, we will never manage to fulfill all wishes. Also, we now use every available space and can hardly offer more choice for reasons of space alone.
The combination of the accurate analysis of the attendance of each workshop and trainer with an annually changing offer of suitable alternatives allows us to introduce changes without leaving out the most popular workshops, dance styles and trainers.
GENERAL
In the area of the Confertainment Center, the event catering of Europa-Park will provide you with food and drinks throughout the day (not included in the ticket price). There is also a selection of different cafés, restaurants and bars in the hotel resorts. Of course, you can also bring your own food and drinks to the festival site. You can find more information here.
Basically: We are very happy to welcome solo dancers. The majority of guests come as couples, and most of the workshops are also designed for couple dances. It is rather difficult to find a dance partner spontaneously on site, but on the festival website as well as on our Facebook page you have the possibility to search for a dance partner in advance.
For this purpose, use the Dance Partner Search page here directly on the homepage or our Facebook group "Euro Dance Festival Dance Partner Search".
You have lost something? For lost property in the hotels please ask at the respective hotel reception. Lost property in the EP-Dome area will first be collected at the festival information desks and then handed in at the Lost & Found at the main entrance of the Europa-Park (Tel: +49 7822 77 28100 or e-mail: fundbuero@europapark.de) after the end of the festival.
FACTS AND FIGURES ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
With almost 550 workshops spread over six days, Euro Dance Festival is Europe's largest dance festival. It offers both for the absolute dance professionals, as well as for newcomers a wide range of different dance styles. From standard and Latin to West Coast Swing and Tango Argentino - only the high-class of the dance world will be teaching.
The festival for: Dance school and hobby dancers
Get to know the whole variety of dancing! New steps, technique, posture, but also new or rarer dances are on the program. On Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings you can try out what you have learned on several floors. The shows of world stars and live music will give you magical hours.
The festival for: Dance teachers and trainers
The festival offers you, besides a lot of fun and contacts, one thing above all: new material for the lessons, taught by the best trainers in the world! Benefit from many new figures, technique trends and special dances and learn interesting combinations and techniques in the workshops, which you can easily incorporate into your own dance style.
The festival for: Competitive dancers
Nothing is more exciting than learning first hand from the world's best couples, coaches and judges the techniques and figures of each dance.
In addition, you have the chance to expand your existing knowledge in other dance styles such as Salsa, Tango Argentino, Swing, etc..
In the event halls of Europa-Park in Rust near Freiburg. The Europa-Park is Germany's largest theme park with over six million visitors per year. The festival uses the conference and seminar rooms in the "Confertainment Center" as well as halls in the park's resort hotels. Just over half of the workshops and evening events take place in the "Confertainment Center" area, where the marketplace is also located.
2025: 04. - 09.03.
2026 : 17. - 22.02.
2027 : 09. - 14.02.
2028 : 29.02. - 05.03.
2029 : 13. - 18.02.
2030 : 05. - 10.03.
The event is organized by Gutmann Events GmbH & Co. KG and Europa-Park in cooperation with Cordell GmbH. The Freiburg dance school Gutmann acts as a consultant.