SAN FRANCISCO SALSA FESTIVAL IS ALIVE AND KICKING AT 13!

Back in 2015 I was wondering if salsa was dying https://salsalocasf.blogspot.com/2015/02/is-salsa-dance-craze-dying.html?showComment=1424685393796

Now after Covid these concerns look like a temper tantrum...The pandemic was a major blow to salsa community so a variety of SF venues vanished and did not come back.  But, at least one of the major events of the past, San Francisco International Salsa Festival did rise from the ashes with a vengeance!

The lock-down began just before the yearly event was supposed to take place, but had to be canceled and caused major losses. However, the plucky organizers,  John Narvaez of America Got Talent fame and his long-time friend and dance partner Liz Rojas mobilized their Salsamania team once again and brought us their first post-pandemic production last year.

This year, I had to come out of retirement to tell you about the San Francisco Salsa Festival's 13-year anniversary. https://sfsalsafestival.com/  To celebrate this "unlucky" number, the organizers, Colombianos themselves, brought one of the world's most famous salsa bands from Colombia: Orquesta La 33.  Even though their songs, including famous classics, were mostly too fast and too long for mambo dancers' taste, the band was so tight and professional and the beat so danceable the crowd danced all night and begged for more at the end late at night - no one left early not noticing that their feet had enough!  Even DJs played more mambo tunes this year in response to growing mambo dancers community in the Bay Area.

In pursuit of higher profits, some promoters skip live bands altogether - not John and Liz who proved time an again that great bands still attract crowds including beginners and old timers who return to the scene to experience the good ol' days when San Francisco was hopping 6 nights per week and twice on weekends!

The band was truly a highlight of the event, but the most important fact that plays a huge role in the festivals' success: how responsive the promoters are to the dance community.  As always, dancers want more time for social dancing, so this year there were less performances and earlier start times to accommodate the majority not keen on late night hopping.

I've met John and Liz over 20 years ago when John was trying to spin on a bottle tip. Since then, they have trained countless dancers, performed in countless shows, won many prizes, but remained humble and approachable treating their dancers and every participant like family. The event runs like a huge family affair with personal anecdotes, some laughs and some tears that make everyone feel included in the family.

Like family, John and I had a disagreement over one of my somewhat critical past review, but, to keep the readers' trust, journalists must remain independent so that glowing reviews like this one will be taken at face value.

Thanks to organizers/ efforts and a great team of their dedicated volunteers SFSF became well known throughout the salsa community in California and beyond attracting many visitors and performers.

In my final review,  I'd like to thank John and Liz on behalf of Bay Area salseros for injecting the lifeblood into San Francisco salsa for the past 13 years and wish them all the luck in the world for all their future endevors.

DIP (dance in peace)