Judged
Performance Competition & Awards
The flagship category, in two divisions — Professionals and Stargate — across Cuban/Calena salsa, LA/Mambo inline salsa, bachata sensual and bachata dominican.
Planning draft — This website is not published and is intended for planning and preparation only. Dates, line-up, schedule, ticket details and partners are subject to confirmation.
Rotterdam · Netherlands
Latin FireAwards Festival
The Netherlands' first dedicated international Latin dance festival. Three days, three halls: professional stage competition, school awards, international artists, live bands, masterclasses and social dancing until late.
First edition · a large-scale Rotterdam event venue, to be confirmed
3
Days of programme
3
Simultaneous halls
5–6k
Attendees expected
300
Free & health-referral tickets
Why now
A national stage the scene never had
Salsa, bachata and related forms — timba, kompa, merengue, cha-cha-chá — are living cultural heritage practised by hundreds of thousands of people across the Netherlands. Yet no Dutch podium stages them to a professional, judged standard on a national stage.
Dancers who reach a competitive level travel to the UK, Italy, Germany, France, Spain or Greece to work at that level. Latin Fire brings that circuit home — built by the community, for the community, with more than 400 professionals co-creating it.
Excellence·Community·Inclusion
The complete programme
A grand feast of competition, performance, masterclass, exhibition and creation
The festival brings every sector of the scene together on one stage — judged competitions, professional and culture performance shows, masterclasses, school exhibitions and creation — as one shared celebration of Latin dance and music.
Judged
Jack & Jill
Randomly paired partners, a randomly selected song, no choreography period. Judged on connection, musicality and improvisation, with its own awards.
Performance
Professional Show
Professional companies, couples and soloists present prepared work on the main arena stage — selected as performance in its own right, outside the judged competition.
Performance
Culture Show
Folkloric culture of Latin America and the Caribbean staged as professional performance in its own right — grounded technique, traditional costume and movement.
Performance
Band Show
A concert-format segment built around eight professional live bands, with professional artists dancing alongside them.
Live performance
Co-creation
Artists create a playful live show together entirely on the spot, with undisclosed music or a live band. Unrehearsed, spontaneous and not judged.
Open panel
Jury Demo Show
The jury's own professional performance, paired with an open panel discussion on judging standards, technique and the state of the artform.
Development
Masterclasses
Master-level teaching in performance and pedagogy by the same professionals who judge and perform — with particular focus on lifting the Stargate division toward the Professionals standard.
Schools
School Exhibition
Dance schools, academies and student groups perform in their own exhibition slots across all three festival days, with every level welcome and no judging pressure.
Powered by LatinFire.AI — during the festival, it helps visitors and audiences easily find the programme, find the people on stage, cast their vote in the competitions, and take care of everything else around their visit.
About LatinFire.AI
Nobody priced out
300 free & health-referral tickets
Day passes are reserved for people who cannot afford a ticket, distributed through the Latin Fire Health Fund and Rotterdam community organisations working with low-income residents, young dancers and students.
Latin dance is increasingly used as movement and social-connection therapy for older adults, people in recovery, and people managing anxiety, isolation or mobility limitations. Our daytime programme and low-impact social floors are designed so people who dance for wellbeing feel as welcome as elite performers.
Community & access →Be part of the first edition
Dance schools, teams, artists, musicians, volunteers, vendors, partners and sponsors — the festival is being built with the scene, not for it.