What's Up With The Tribal Festivals?

well according to...um...you...Throwdown is postponed due to logistics, not lack of interest. And Tribal Fest and Con seem to be doing well.

My guess is that the organizers got burnt out, or perhaps it wasn't worth the considerable time/effort/money that it takes to put on these events?

I theorize that it has to do with overexposure of the "circuit" instructors, and the unwillingness of the general populace of the tribal community to try any workshop that isn't taught by one of those instructors. I love them, but when I look at workshops and retreats and festivals, it's the same same same teachers everywhere you go. And I for one have lost some interest myself in the investment of attending these workshops because I feel like nothing really new or special is happening at any one of them...at least not that I can't get at some other festival in the coming month or two someplace else. Burnout indeed, but not just the hosts, methinks.

Kajira has tried to combat this by contractually obligating the instructors at Tribal Fest to not teach the same topic at any other festival within a 6 month period before and after TF. But that doesn't change that when you take a workshop from ____ instructor these days, you get a lot of the same look/feel/experience regardless of topic.

So for a festival to keep going, and to keep it interesting, the workshop attendees really need to open up to taking interesting topics from teachers they may not be as familiar with, rather than always chasing the same instructors all over the place. And in turn, the festival hosts need to take gambles on instructors who are lesser known. But we know what happens then...if the former doesn't follow the latter, then you are left holding the proverbial bag. And if I were a host, I wouldn't want to take that chance either...

Any thoughts on this theori?

I'm wondering if this doesn't also have something to do with the fact there are so many events, small and large. It seemed like everyone was putting together some kind of festival, workshop, event, whatever for awhile. I understand regional events and specialties, but when there are so many things happening it can be hard to choose let alone budget. Are we creating our own competition sometimes?

that's sort of like seeing 3 ducks in a row, and guessing there's just ducks out there.

Tribal Cafe's explanation is right there and was announced a while ago, you know the reason why Tribal Throwdown is postponed...TQNW is the only one without explanation at the moment, which to my gut feeling says there's probably a very serious issue unrelated to business behind it, so I hope all is well there.

Tribal Fest ain't going anywhere, and there's TribalCon, Triboriginal, Third Coast, and about 5-6 others around the country in full swing.

Not tribal-specific, but Gothla US took place in Orange County this past weekend and it was a huge success: we had a great turnout, high workshop registration, solid performer list, and support from all over the country and beyond.

But really, there's plenty of bellydance events that come and go - all styles - for all sorts of reasons - mainly logistics or personal life changes in the producer/promoter's lives.

From a non-organizers viewpoint: I know with more events happening here on the East Coast I am happy to sit tight and hit my local-ish events. I'm hitting TribO for the third time this year (great classes, great hanging out, great location, price is right!), and then deciding between Tribal Con, Spring Caravan or hitting Pennsic I don't really think about going west (I think if I did Tribal Quest would be my first pick, it seems like my speed). I'm also one of those people who would rather spend my money on consistent classes and in depth training over workshops or festivals, which are fun but are not the best place for me to learn or retain anything I learned.

But yeah, running a festival can burn out even the best organizer. I ran some regular events while volunteering for several festivals and after a few years I had to scale back because it wasn't any fun anymore, which can be the hardest thing to get over (quit early before you end up hating or resenting what you once loved!).

I agree that a lot of it has to do with market saturation. I have never been to any West Coast festivals so I can't comment on the vibe there, but I think that the reason TribalCon and TribOriginal have succeeded in recent years despite saturation is that they started out with the desire to create something with a different feel than other festivals. They are attractive for reasons beyond who is teaching there. It also doesn't hurt that they are over here in the rapidly growing Tribal South (WOO!! yeaaah!! ok i'm a dork) where people are dying for MORE events, not fewer.

Yes. The Southeast most definitely feels like we have workshop overdrive. Zafira is everywhere, Zoe is everywhere, Raquy and the Cavemen will be sure to hit your city or somewhere very close to it. They are all everywhere...and they are successful from my understanding. I completely agree with Valizan that it used to be a big name would come to town every couple of months and everyone would go crazy to go to the workshop, prepare for the show, and learn as much as possible because you were never sure if you would be able to take from that instructor again! With that said, I think there are a couple of reasons that the Southeast does have such a huge influx of teachers and community events.

The community has become infinitely closer. I have seen these festivals as a way to see and hang out with friends as much as taking the workshops and learning. I go to these festivals mostly because I can see people that I usually will not see other than at Pennsic. Being a part of Awalim and helping with TribalCon and being honored to be able teach at Tribo last year, I have a skewed view of the costs of these events, but I would argue that apart from my own personal connections with these events, they truly offer unique aspects. I love having the chance as a dancer to be able to take as many music classes as I can dance classes, and dance with these musicians in a non-performance setting. I love being able to hang out in the mountains of North Carolina eating food from an amazing chef and seeing a fire performance right after a hafla or dance show. These unique qualities of both Tribo and TCon make them more than worth my while to attend these events.

I also truly believe that the demand for quality instruction has increased. Classes are everywhere. Thanks to the Belly Dance Super Stars and an increased interest in tribal, beginning and intermediate classes are being held everywhere. Now with this said, a lot of dancers are becoming more involved with the community and want the next level. Who better than to provide for this than the teachers on the workshop circuit? In the eyes of your ‘average’ workshop attendee, “big name” is going to provide you with something that “new and possible amazing dancer” may not be able to do because you do not know that dancer. My views are sort of skewed from your 'average ' tribal festival attendee whose main purpose may not be the musicians, but purely the dance or who is hot right now.


With these events trying so hard to make a community and to provide opportunities for dancers that aren't always available locally, they still have a bottom line to meet. Big names are big names are big names and that's what will attract attendees. Would we love to bring in top folkloric talent? Of course, it would be great to being in someone different and/ or new, but selling that idea to the belly dance community is hard. Why should I pay X amount of money for "insert new and possibly amazing dancer here" when for the same amount "insert big name here" is going to be near me in less than 3 months? The flip side of that coin is why give “new” instructor the chance to teach when she is inexperienced and could never offer what a big name lives by? Is that person really able to deliver? Will she be able to empower, educate, and give something to the workshop attendees that big names could not? Would workshop attendees want that? Would they be satisfied with the level of creativity…I could go on forever….

The saturation of the market (both classes and workshops), coupled with workshop instructors more than willing to come to your city, and workshop sponsors trying to attract attendees to something you might not get somewhere just adds fuel to the overdrive of tribal festivals.

So with that said…I’m going to go do more TribalCon stuff because OH YEAH ITS NEXT WEEKEND!