Terms and conditions

General conditions

• The festival schedule may be subject to last-minute modification: for example, in case a teacher’s flight is cancelled, in case of his/her illness or injury, etc. This means the schedule or the teacher of your class might be changed. No refunds will be issued in this case.
• We cannot be held responsible, nor do we accept or admit liability, for the loss or theft of your personal belongings during the festival. Keep an eye on them.
• We cannot be held responsible, nor do we accept or admit liability for any injuries,, so take good care of yourself and others.
• Respect the venues: keep them nice and clean, follow any house rules they maintain and wear shoes suitable for dance floors.
• If you lose something during our events, either Trippin’ Blues Amsterdam or the relevant venue will keep it for up to one month after the event. After that, we will give everything to charity.
• We cannot be held responsible if your attendance to the festival is hindered for reasons outside of your or our control, e.g. if your flight or train is cancelled, you fall ill, you incur an injury, etc. No refunds will be issued in this case.
• During the festival, photos and videos will be taken to keep memories and promote future editions. This material may be published on our website and/or social media. By participating in the festival, you give us preliminary permission to publish this media on which you may appear. You can request deletion of any images on which you appear afterwards. We will then delete these images within 7 working days.

Cancellation policy

• If you cancel your registration two months prior to the festival, you will get a 75% refund.
• If you cancel your registration between two and one month prior to the festival, you will get a 50% refund.
• If you cancel your registration less than one month before the festival, no refund is given. We can, however, discuss a discount for a later festival.
• In any case, you can sell your ticket to someone else within the same level and role (lead/follow). We need to be informed about this sale before the start date of the event. Please send us an email with all relevant information about the new person (i.e. name, email).
• If there is a waiting list for your level and role, you can ask us to resell your ticket. If this works out, you get a 90% refund. We keep 10% for handling costs.

Code of conduct

Dancing is a social activity in which you come into social and physical contact with other people. It is always important to pay attention to your personal hygiene, your movements and how you treat the people around you, so everyone can have a nice time together.

• While dancing, you are inviting people into your personal space and entering other people’s personal space. Be aware of this and treat your dance partners with respect.
  • In our community there are many dancers that both lead and follow. Dance roles are unrelated to gender, and everyone should be free to dance in the role that pleases them most. To have clear communication when asking someone to dance, it can be good to state the role in which you would like to dance, or to ask which role your partner would prefer. For example, “Hello, would you like to dance the next song? Would you prefer to lead or follow?” or “Hi, would you like to dance? I prefer to follow, if that’s OK.”
  • Be aware of your own body. If you know that you tend to sweat a lot, a change of shirt and a deodorant can make dancing more comfortable for everyone. If you have eaten strongly flavored food, a mint will help freshen your breath.
  • While there is always some risk associated with any physical activity, we are committed to preventing injuries before they happen. You may be asked to stop dancing if your movement endangers you, your partner, or any other dancers on the social floor. Unsafe dancing is any movement that puts anyone at an increased risk of physical injury. This includes, but is not limited to, yanking or jerking your partner around, forceful movements when leading or following (increasing risk of shoulder, arm, and upper-back injuries), bending over your partner during a dip when leading (increasing risk of lower back injuries), sudden weight sharing when following (e.g. dipping yourself when your partner is not prepared for it), or any lift where both of your partner’s feet go above your knees. If you are unsure what constitutes unsafe dancing, please ask one of the organisers or any instructor.
  • Be mindful of and receptive towards your partner’s verbal and non-verbal signals, especially when it comes to initiating more intimate (e.g. close embrace) or hazardous/unpredictable (e.g. dips) kinds of contact. If you feel uncomfortable during a dance, you may first try to initiate more distance, other types of connection, or communicate directly with your partner (e.g. “Excuse me, I don’t feel comfortable dancing so close right now.”) if possible. If this isn’t working, please approach one of our Care Team members to help.
• At Trippin’ Blues we have a Care Team. Its members are the people you can reach out to in case of any of the situations described above. If you are being made to feel uncomfortable, harassed, or unsafe, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact any member of the Care Team or the organisers straight away. Contact the registration desk volunteer if you need assistance locating a Care Team member or organiser. Members will be identifiable by some marker specified at the festival, e.g. colourful reflective bands, pins or scarves. By contacting them you can expect:
  • A private conversation with a member of the Care Team, who will make an anonymised note of the conversation, and discuss some potential options for action with you.
  • If you raise concerns about a breach of the safety rules, we will pass on the note of the conversation to a member of the organisers of the event.
  • Our utmost concern is the safety of all our attendees, and we may choose to take action that could include sending someone to ‘cool off’ or excluding individuals from the event. We will always take into consideration any action that you personally would like to take.
  • We will contact the police if you ask us to, or if there’s an immediate risk to anyone at the event.
  • If we receive reports of predatory behavior, unwanted (sexual) attention or (sexual) assault, we may pass on the names of offenders to other organisers to promote safety across the dance scene.
• At our venues, drug use or being under the influence of drugs is prohibited. 
• We have a zero tolerance policy for any harassment, including racist, sexist, homophobic or transphobic abuse. If you experience any type of harassment, please contact the organisers or a member of the Care Team.
• If the code of conduct is breached we reserve the right to remove the participant from the current and future events. In case we exercise this right, the removed person is not entitled to a refund, and we retain the right to claim compensation, if any damages occur.