Not Salsa Fest

The organisers say plainly that they are not chasing numbers, and they back it with something almost nobody does: a section explaining who the festival is not for. Not for you if you want the most figures in the least time, if you want a thousand people and ten parallel rooms, or if you only want partner salsa. That last one is not a warning so much as a statement of intent. Half the weekend is rumba and afro. The afro sessions separate Yoruba, Palo, Arará and Abakuá rather than treating them as one thing, and the rumba covers guaguancó, yambú and columbia as distinct characters. A lecture on what Cuban salsa actually looks like in Cuba today runs alongside. Thirteen hours of workshops and three parties, with a ladies bootcamp that ends in a slot at the Saturday gala. There is a video zone for people who want to film together, and the festival closes with tea and a conversation about what everyone took from it. It is run by LE Shkrobtak, a school with seventeen years behind it, which also stages bachata editions of NOT FEST. A Telegram bot runs a points game across the weekend: points for classes, for dressing to the theme, for bringing someone, redeemable against merchandise and a discount on the next edition.