The Blackpool Ballroom Dancing Championships held each summer, from May to June, light up the Winter Gardens grand Empress Ballroom each year, with swirls of colour and dance. This prestigious dance event, also known as the British Professional Ballroom Dancing Championship, showcases the best of British and International talent, as a precursor to the International Championships, held in London each October.

Ballroom dancing has a long history in Blackpool, with the championships originating with sequential dances to the Waltz, Two Step and Foxtrot. Nowadays, Modern Ballroom and Latin American dances such as the Tango are popular inclusions, but by far the most anticipated event is the final of the Waltz. This event, traditionally the last final in the competition, is attended by an audience dressed in white tie. The experience of watching the dancers, swirl around the floor in beautiful white gowns with their partners in white tie, is homage to the ultimate formal occasions; the dance of the waltz signifying all the great balls that history has ever held.

Attending Blackpool Ballroom Dancing Championships

The ballroom community is a close-knit set of insiders, who will all attend events showcasing their son and daughter’s talents, nephews, nieces, friends and fellow dancers. Ballroom is a skill learned from a young age, in the most successful dancers, who are prodigiously nurtured into the adult dancers seen before everyone at these events. The audience is largely family members, who have given much voluntary service to seeing the dreams of these young people come true.

Behind the scenes, of the 3,000 entrants, there are many sequins sown by a dedicated mother, a lot of mileage in the family car by dad, the chauffer, and many words of encouragement and support spoken, for the times the couple gain just a place, and not a win. Ballroom couples are not always boyfriend and girlfriend, but many on the inside will say that this often happens, as for the dance to be truly spectacular, there needs to be a synergy between the pair. This synergy is compared to the electricity the feeling of love brings to a relationship.

The ballroom community will not frown upon outsiders attending the dancing championships, and indeed tickets are available, though you are wise to buy them well in advance as they do sell out. Just be prepared if you attend the Blackpool Ballroom Dancing Championships to be asked who you know, or who are you supporting, as you watch the amazing performances.