Country Dance & Song Society

Florida Snow Ball
2026-01-23 18:00 - 2026-01-25 15:00 (America/New_York) | Boca Ciega High School Gymnasium, 924 58th St S, Gulfport, FL, 33707, United States
A contra dance in Gulfport, Florida with Red Case band and Turnip the Beet. Callers will be Michael Karcher and Lisa Greenleaf. Join us in Florida for a contra dance weekend experience you’ll be coming back to every year. Young adult rate and scholarships available. Contact TFOOTD@gmail.com

Cabin Fever 2026
2026-02-13 - 2026-02-15 | Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, 461 West Outer Drive, Oak Ridge, TN, 37830, United States
Three days of music, dance, and hanging out with couple hundred of your best friends. In 2026 we are featuring Chris Page calling to the music of Contraforce and Starling. Registration is limited to 200.

Bayou Bedlam Contra Dance Weekend
2026-02-20 - 2026-02-22 | Knights of Columbus Roemer Hall, 607 E Whitney St, Houston, TX, 77022, United States
Houston Area Traditional Dance Society invites you to The Bayou City for a contra dance weekend!
Bayou Bedlam 2026 (Feb 20-22) features the musical charisma of Eloise & Co. and the masterful calling talents of Cis Hinkle.
Bayou Bedlam is danced on a sprung wood floor.
Plenty of snacks, an extensive Saturday lunch, and fabulous Sunday brunch are included.
Callers in attendance have the chance to call with Eloise & Co. as well.
Work trade and hospitality available!
Cis will be calling using gender-neutral terms (larks & robins).

Lava Meltdown Contra Dance Weekend 2026
2026-02-27 17:00 - 2026-03-01 12:00 (America/Denver) | Lava Senior Center & Community Center, 150 N Center Street, Lava Hot Springs, ID, 83246, United States
Lava Meltdown is a dance weekend in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho held the last weekend of February 2026. The weekend kicks off with a potluck dinner, followed by a welcome contra dance session on Friday night. On Saturday, there is a continental breakfast followed by more contra dancing and workshops. Lunch is provided and followed by more contra dancing and workshops. Dinner is on your own, followed by our evening contra dances. The final dance follows a continental breakfast and concert on Sunday ending at noon.
Lava Meltdown features all-day dancing, plus a concert, jamming, and caller’s and music workshops by featured musicians and callers. This year we have the pleasure of dancing to the rhythms of Ed Howe and Bennett Konesni of Drive Train and formerly Perpetual E-Motion as well as the dynamic calling of Christine Merryman.
$150 Early Bird Adult

Palmetto Bug Stomp 2026!
2026-02-27 18:30 - 2026-03-01 15:00 (America/New_York) | Morningside Middle School, 2731 Gordon St, North Charleston, SC, 29405, United States
Announcing Palmetto Bug Stomp 2026!
February 27 – March 1, 2026
Notorious and ContraForce!
Seth Tepfer and JJ Luxe!
ENT Sound Productions, LLC
Registration opens October 1st on Eventbrite
Early Bird price (Oct 1 to Jan 1): $145 + Eventbrite fee
Regular price (Jan 2 to Feb 27): $160 + Eventbrite fee
Ticket includes Friday night potluck and Sunday continental breakfast, with delicious snacks throughout the weekend.
The Bug Stomp venue this year is 2731 Gordon Street, North Charleston, SC 29405
Notorious is Eden MacAdam-Somer on fiddle and vocals, Larry Unger on guitar and banjo, Sam Bartlett on mandolin and banjo, and Mark Hellenberg on percussion.
Charleston-based quartet ContraForce is fiddler and guitarist Andrae Raffield, percussionist and saxophonist Joey Dorwart, guitarist Jimi Peirano, and vocalist and fiddler Karin McQuade.
Seth Tepfer has called dances and festivals in almost every state in the union and around the world. Known for his infectious energy and short walk-throughs, Seth’s enthusiasm is contagious and gets everyone moving.
From Lexington, South Carolina and Orlando, Florida, JJ Luxe is a young-generation caller who brings fun and high energy to their dances and calling.
ENT Sound Productions is Ben Meyer, based right here in Charleston.

2026 Spring Breakdown
2026-03-20 - 2026-03-22 | Kimball Ballroom – Stephens College Campus, 6 N. College Ave., Columbia, MO, 65201, United States
Plan now for a full weekend of dancing, workshops and more!
March 20-22, 2026
In Kimball Ballroom (Stephens College campus), 6 N. College Ave., Columbia, MO 65201
Featuring:
Big Brandy and Wendy Graham!
Big Brandy—Four cross-genre musicians from the Cosmic Otters and Birdhouse Hollow combine forces to form Big Brandy. They take the best of old-time Appalachian, Irish, and French tunes and weave them into exhilarating arrangements, perfectly tailored for contra dancing. Meg Dedolph (guitar, percussion), Wren Eisenhauer (banjo, vocals), Jonathan Whitall (fiddle, piano), Qi Yang (accordion, piano).
Wendy Graham (Brasstown, NC) is a self-described “dance maniac.” Her passion for traditional folk music, song, and dance caught fire in 1991 on a youth dance tour in Denmark. Today, she leads many kinds of dance, including English Country, American contras and squares, partner (swing, latin, waltz, blues, country), and line dances at community and private events around the country and abroad—from Alaska to Denmark and everywhere in between. When not leading and teaching dance, Wendy programs dance weeks/weekends and classes for teens and adults at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina. She proudly served on the Lloyd Shaw Foundation and Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS) board and Lifetime Contribution Award committee. She is a current CDSS nominating committee member.

Nashville Country Dancers' 43rd Annual Playford Ball
2026-03-27 - 2026-03-29 | West End Middle School, 3529 West End Avenue, Nashville, TN, 37205, United States
Music by Trio Con Brio: Jonathan Jensen, Elke Baker & Paul Oorts
Trio con Brio is Elke Baker, Jonathan Jensen, and Paul Oorts. The group formed after early collaborations playing for their local English country dance in Baltimore, and more than twenty years later, they’re still at it, playing a diverse and unusual repertoire featuring vintage mandolin music, French musette music, Jonathan’s original compositions, classical arrangements, Paul’s transcriptions of music from around the world, and Elke’s finds from the archives. Instrumentation is primarily violin, mandolin, and piano, but extends to accordion, guitar, viola, recorders, whistles, and ocarinas.
Caller: Jenna Simpson
Jenna Simpson is a choreographer known for her innovative dances. Based in Williamsburg, Virginia, she regularly calls for both the local community English and Scottish Country Dances as well as for the student ECD club at the College of William & Mary, which she co-founded. Her ECD repertoire spans both the historical and modern canons – she has called for reenactors and for the Annual General Meeting of the Jane Austen Society of North America, but particularly delights in trying out and sharing new dance compositions.
Click here for full information and to register.

Melt Into Spring
2026-03-27 20:00 - 2026-03-29 15:00 (America/New_York) | Concourse Hall, 4531 Concourse Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48108, United States
English Country Dance with Joseph Pimentel

Springforth Ball and Dance Weekend 2026
2026-04-10 18:00 - 2026-04-12 16:00 (America/New_York) | Lewis Ginter Recreation Association, 3421 Hawthorne Avenue, Richmond, VA, 23222, United States
The Traditional American Dance And Music Society
invites you to the
29th Annual
Springforth Ball & Dance Weekend

April 10-11-12, 2026
Featuring
Wild Asparagus
Ann Percival (piano, guitar, vocals)
David Cantieni (flutes, tin whistle, oboe, saxophone & bombard)
Becky Tracy (fiddle), Mark Murphy (bass), George Marshall (concertina, bodhran, bones)
with George Marshall calling
Acclaimed from coast to coast, Wild Asparagus is one of the most popular and sought after contradance bands in America! Clear concise teaching and calling will have you effortlessly dancing traditional as well as recently composed contras collected from around the country. Their creative high-energy music will surprise and delight dancers and listeners alike.
Join us for a high energy weekend of food, dance, music, and workshops.
Held at our beautiful hall, the Lewis Ginter Recreation Center.
Check back in December for:

Registration
Weekend Schedule
Additional Information

Springforth Ball Photo Archives
If you have any questions please email tadamsvacontra@gmail.com

Call of the Loon 13th Annual Contra Dance Weekend
2026-04-10 19:30 - 2026-04-12 14:30 (America/Chicago) | Tapestry Folkdance Center, 3748 Minnehaha Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, 55406, United States
April 10, 11 & 12, 2026 | Tapestry Folkdance Center, Minneapolis, MN

Featuring callers Gaye Fifer and Beau Farmer with live music by Toss the Possum & Toot, Squeeze & Co.!
Learn more or register at our website.

Registration Fee:
$125 (before Jan 1)
$135 (Jan. 1 – Mar 1)
Late Registration $145 (after Mar 1)
$75 Student/Young Adult (before Mar 1)
$85 Student/Young Adult (after Mar 1)
Friday
6:45 pm Registration opens
7:30–11:30 pm Welcome dance
11:30–12:30 am Campfire gathering

Saturday
9 am Coffee and registration
9:30–10:30 am Workshop
10:45 am–12:30 pm Contra dance
12:30–2 pm Lunch break & caller roundtable
(sandwiches for those who ordered with registration)
2-3:30 pm Contra dance/Workshop
3:45-5 pm Contra dance/Workshop
5–7:30 pm Dinner break
7:30–8:00 pm Concert
8:15–11:30 pm Flower Power Ball
11:30 pm–1 am Techno contra with DJ Rynkie / Jam session

Sunday
9:30–11 am Brunch for those registered for the weekend
10:30–11:30 am Workshop
11–11:45 am Singing around the campfire
11:45 am–2:30 pm Farewell dance

Pitt's Maggot English Dance Weekend 2026
2026-04-17 - 2026-04-19 | Anne Ashley Memorial United Methodist Church, 334 E 22nd Ave, Homestead, PA, 15120, United States
An English Dance Weekend with Jenna Simpson calling to music by Dave Weisler, Carrie Rose and Miranda Weinberg in Pittsburgh PA.

New England Folk Festival
2026-04-24 18:00 - 2026-04-26 17:30 (America/New_York) | Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel and Trade Center, 181 Boston Post Road West, Marlborough, MA, 01752, United States
NEFFA attracts over 2000 attendees from all over the country and overseas and features close to 1000 performers. The Festival is unique because of the participatory nature of the events. Not only are there concerts and performances, but there are also opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to engage with music, dance, and folk arts culture.

Meet Me in St Louis
2026-05-22 20:00 - 2026-05-25 15:00 (America/Chicago) | Masonic Lodge, 235 Vernon St., Roseville, CA, 95678, United States
Music by Playing with Fyre and by The Arcotones.
Calling by Sarah Kaiser plus other local and national callers.
Discounted tickets until May 1. Students half price.
Hosting / couch surfing available. Financial assistance available.

“Across the Lake” English Country Dance Weekend
2026-06-05 19:30 - 2026-06-06 22:30 (America/New_York) | Elley-Long Music Center, 223 Ethan Allen Ave., Colchester, VT, 05446, United States
Tom Roby calls to music by Karen Axelrod (piano, accordion), Rachel Bell (accordion), and Naomi Morse (violin). Friday night welcome dance for all, Saturday afternoon challenging session for experienced dancers, Saturday afternoon review session for all, Saturday night gala (dressy attire requested).

Flamingo Fling 2026 Contra Weekend in Oklahoma City
2026-06-12 - 2026-06-14 | International Dance Studio, 3001 NW 73rd St, Oklahoma City, OK, 73116, United States
Contra Weekend in Oklahoma City featuring Adina Gordon calling and Brian Lindsay, Eric Schedler, and Owen Morrison as the band!

Contra Hall at the 75th National Square Dance Convention
2026-06-23 - 2026-06-27 | Waco Convention Center, 100 Washington Ave, Waco, TX, 76701, United States
Enjoy several days of contra dancing at the 75th National Square Dance Convention in Waco, TX June 24-27, 2026.
Note: Contra callers who register by Dec 31, 2025 and indicate their interest on the registration form can be scheduled to call contra dances or other traditional formations at this national convention, which will have 3,000 attendees!
Registration is $80 for adults until May 1, 2026, when it increases to $95.
Register on our website. The contra hall schedule (which might include you as a caller!) will be posted in the Spring of 2026 on the Contralab Facebook page.

Lady of the Lake Music and Dance Weekend
2026-10-02 15:00 - 2026-10-04 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | N-Sid-Sen Camp & Retreat Center, 36395 S Hwy 97, Harrison, ID, 83833, United States
The 45th annual Lady of the Lake Music and Dance Weekend features a wonderful staff drawing from across the Northwest and well beyond. Callers Lindsey Dono and Jeremy Kors will lead contra dances and workshops. The Dam Beavers and the Baby Corns featuring Hayden Sterns will provide rousing music. Enjoy the falling leaves from heritage apple trees and the cry of loons from the bordering Coeur d’Alene Lake, just 75 minutes from Spokane, WA. Amazing food with five different dietary options.

Head for the Hills
2026-11-13 - 2026-11-15 | Camp Harlam, 575 Smith Rd., Kunkletown, PA, 18058, United States
Princeton Country Dancers’ getaway weekend of dance, music, and song at Camp Harlam near Kresgeville, PA in the Poconos.

Contra Hall at the 76th National Square Dance Convention
2027-06-22 - 2027-06-26 | The Ranch Events Complex, 5280 Arena Circle, Loveland, CO, 80538, United States
Enjoy hours and hours of contra dancing and related traditional dance (English, squares, community dance) at the 76th NSDC in Loveland, CO. Registration is open and the cost is currently $70 per adult.
Contra callers! If you register by Dec. 31, 2026, you can be included as a caller in the Contra Hall! 3,000 attendees are expected at this national square dance convention!
More information available as we get closer to the date!
