Ten years ago, a fellow tanguero remarked to me that attending the Portland tango festival was the happiest weekend of his life. That comment has always stayed with me as a compliment, an honor and as a sense of obligation. I know I can not please everyone, but it has always been my guiding principal to create festivals which bring happiness into people’s lives. Towards that end, I endeavor to bring the best staff, venues, features and schedule as possible. But I also know that providing you, the participant, with as much up front information as possible will mean a more satisfying experience. With this in mind, below is a run down of some of the highlights and features to expect.
- Lodging: The DoubleTree always sells out, so my advice is to book your room ASAP. But if you don’t get in, here’s a list of Nearby Hotels and a place to connect with locals that have Private Lodging.
- Mixers: This year we have three: Mish/Mash Mixer on Thursday, Texas Tango Hold ‘Em on Friday, and Equal Opportunity Mixer on Saturday. These mixers are a great way to meet new people, have fun a maybe win a prize,
- Performances: Instructor performances are on Friday and Saturday evening at 11:00pm
- Tokens: For admission to a class you need either a Full Pass Wrist Band or a Class Token. In addition, extra tokens can be given to a friend and/or have a $20 value towards admission to any milonga.
- Wristbands: With 600-700 attendees, our staff cannot know everyone. Thus if you purchased a Full Pass or Milonga pass, you must wear the wrist band on your wrist for the duration of the festival. Even I will be wearing one.
- Facebook: To keep up to date and communicate with others via Facebook, check out the ValenTango Event and the ValenTango Page.
- Companion: You can connect up with a companion to share a room, take classes and/or practice with at Companion Search.
- Changing Partners: Occasionally, a couple will not want to change partners. Although this may (or may not) benefit them individually, from years of experience I know that classes as a whole progress faster when everyone participates and changes partners. Thus, if you don’t want to change, I recommend private lessons or sticking to the Advanced Classes for Couples.
- Private Lessons: All instructors are available for private lessons and all arrangements (time, location price etc) should be made directly with the instructor of your choice. To help out, go to Private Lesson Spreadsheet.
- Parking: All hotel guests and ValenTango participants may use the DoubleTree parking lot. If you are not a hotel guest, pick up a daily parking pass at the registration desk.
Happy Tangoing….
