Salsa Festival Prague

Hanser Estenoz grew up in Cuba, teaches in Prague and runs the studio behind this, and the festival is his attempt to put the Czech Republic on the circuit. The organisers claim it is the only international festival in the country wholly given to Cuban salsa, which looks right. The headline is Haila María Mompié, live on the Saturday gala night. Booking a voice of that standing for a first edition is not a small thing, and it is the clearest signal of what the festival is aiming at. The teaching leans Cuban: Maykel Fonts, Adonis Santiago and Wilmer y María from Cuba, Charlie y Vero and Jose Mari y Patri from Spain, alongside a Czech and Peruvian contingent. Salsa cubana, timba and Afro-Cuban run beside bachata, musicality, body movement and a salsatón class, and a rueda de casino bootcamp opens the weekend. Everything sits in one building: dance halls, socials, rooms and meals, with accommodation. Each night carries a dress code, white on the Friday, gala on the Saturday, streetwear on the Sunday.