One of the dance world's major events, featuring top professional ballroom and Latin dancers competing for the UK Open title, with live music from The Cre8tive Orchestra.
The United Kingdom Open Dance Festival returns to BIC Windsor Hall from Tuesday 19 to Sunday 24 January 2027. It's one of the dance world's major events, and at its heart are the UK Open Championships, where the highest calibre of professional ballroom and Latin dancers compete for the title.
There's a particular tradition here that sets it apart from other competitions. Each evening, the Grand Finalists are introduced to the floor individually to perform their introduction dance — a historic 'UK' custom that lets you see the couples one by one before the main event gets underway. Every competitor dances to the music of a live band, The Cre8tive Orchestra, so the whole thing has a real energy to it rather than relying on recordings.
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The festival runs across the day, and the tickets are split to suit how you want to watch. All-day tickets for Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday are £62.50, while Wednesday and Thursday have separate day sessions for £49.50 and evening sessions starting from £60.00. If you're only in for the finals, the evening sessions are where the introduction dances and the big showdowns happen; if you want to see the heats and the build-up, the all-day tickets cover the full run of the day. It's a six-day stretch, so you can pick a single afternoon or settle in for a few days of it.
