30 YEARS OF ESDS
Come celebrate with us • 20-22 March 2026
Edinburgh Swing Dance Society is turning 30, and we’re having a huge party!​
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​We’d love to see members and dancers from throughout the 30 years of the society, as well as new faces, join our celebration.
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We'll have:
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3 social dances with live music.
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Saturday night at the fabulous Assembly Rooms on George Street.
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Fun classes with some of our favourite teachers.
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Plenty of cake and treats!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
Registration
Registration opens 30 November 2025 at 6pm on Dancecloud.
Full Pass
£125
£105 concession
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Friday Welcome Party
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Saturday Classes
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Saturday Night Birthday Ball
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Sunday Classes
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Sunday Tea Dance
Party Pass
£75
£65 concession
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Friday Welcome Party
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Saturday Night Birthday Ball
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Sunday Tea Dance
Saturday Night
£35
£30 concession
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Saturday Night Birthday Ball
Concessions include ESDS members, students, over 65s, and those on Universal Credit and other benefits.
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Single tickets for the Friday Welcome Party and Sunday Tea Dance will be released in February 2026, subject to venue capacity.
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​These prices do not represent the true cost of running this event. We have subsidised ticket costs in hopes of making the weekend more accessible to the whole community.
Community fund
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If there’s something you need to make attendance possible, please email us in advance at info@esds.org.uk. We will do what we can to make it happen.
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We are running a community fund and pay-it-forward scheme to make sure everyone who wants to attend can do so.
Pay it forward options are available in increments of £5 on the extras page after you choose your ticket.
With our community fund, we may be able to help in the following ways:
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Paying in instalments
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Hosting
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Splitting a ticket for childcare
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Accessibility adjustments - we will publish the access info for our venues, but if there are other things you need or need to know, please tell us.​​​​​​​​​​
T-shirts
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£20 each.
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You can order your shirt when you buy your ticket. We will also have orders available for those who are not attending the event. Shirt orders will close at 10pm on 28 February.
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Please pay close attention to the measurements when choosing your shirt size. These shirts are slim fitting so you may want to go up a size from your usual size if you like a more relaxed fit.​
Shaped/Ladies' fit (108F)
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Sizes XS-2XL - See detailed size information for Shaped/Ladies' fit​​​​​​​​​​​​
Unisex/Men's fit (108M)
Sizes XS-3XL - See detailed size information for Unisex/Men's fit​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
​​​​Other merch
We are also considering other merch. We’d like to do this as sustainably as possible and only produce things people will actually use.
Vote for the merch you'd buy!​​​​​
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Teachers
We've invited back some of our favourites for our birthday!
Carolene Hinds and
Russell Sargeant
Carolene and Russell have been professional dancers, choreographers and teachers who worked for many years with The Jiving Lindy Hoppers (JLH) specialising in Authentic Jazz Dance, including Charleston, Rhythm Tap and the Lindy Hop to name a few.
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During their time with the JLH they travelled to many parts of the world teaching and performing. Performances ranged from village halls in rural UK, small, medium and large theatres throughout the UK, to 50,000 seat stadiums in the USA as part of their coast-to-coast 'Swingtime' Show touring America with a big band. They have worked with many of the Authentic Jazz Dance greats including Frankie Manning, Norma Miller, Pepsi Bethel, George & Sugar Sullivan and the Mama Lu Parks dancers.
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They have appeared on many TV programmes both here in the UK and overseas, danced on the back of moving lorries and taught at many dance weekends here and overseas. They danced, and were assistant choreographers, in the NHS section of the 2012 London Olympic Opening Ceremony. Their biggest audience to date.
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Edinburgh holds a special place in their hearts as they spent several years performing in the Edinburgh Festival and Jazz Festival. They are proud to be co-founders of the Edinburgh Swing Dance Society alongside Rhona and Niall and remember the many hours they spent travelling, once a month, from London to Edinburgh (often driving through the night) to teach in the early years of Edinburgh Swing Dance Society (ESDS).
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Carolene and Russell continue to share their love of dance through the work that they do with a dance awarding body in Blackpool. Dance remains an integral part of their lives and Carolene was awarded an MBE in the King’s New Year’s Honours List 2024 for her Services to Dance.
Jenny Thomas and
Benjie Talbott
Jenny Thomas started dancing and competing at the tender age of 4. A former All England Tap Champion for three consecutive years, she also held Lindy Hop titles for The US Open, American Swing Dance, and UK Open Swing Dance Championships. In 1992 when she joined Ryan Francois’ Authentic Jazz Dance Company ‘Zoots & Spangles’, Jenny fell in love with Charleston and Lindy Hop.
She has been teaching Lindy Hop across the globe for more than 30 years and still continues to teach, inspire, influence, encourage and choreograph Lindy communities worldwide. Her love and passion to pass on her years of knowledge is second to none.
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She feels lucky, grateful and privileged to have worked with Lindy Hop Legends Frankie Manning, Norma Miller & Dawn Hampton. And in recent years partnering many of the World’s Top Lindy Teachers. Jenny is currently the leading Charleston and Salsa Choreographer on BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, contributing to the show for 18 years.
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Since a young age, Benjie Talbott has been involved in the arts in one way or another. From music, to acting, dance and more, the arts have been the backbone of his life. In dance, Benjie brings the spirit of community, connection and collaboration into the classroom, and focuses on creating a space to share and grow together. He has a love of rhythm, play and connection, and seeks to create a space where we can all have more equal and creative conversations in our dancing.
Bands
Check out our incredible lineup of live music to keep you dancing all weekend.
Tessa Smith and the AppleJacks
Saturday Night Birthday Ball
Assembly Rooms, 54 George Street
When Tessa Smith walked into her first ever Lindy Hop lesson back in 2010, something clicked. Suddenly, the music she had been studying and singing for over 8 years became even more vibrant. She saw that there was more to Swing music than music to sit and listen to. She saw how dancers could be part of the improvisational conversation.
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Since then, Tessa learned to dance; learning the best tempos to play for dancers and creating a set of music that is perfect for dancing to. She’s performed for countless Swing Dance scenes and international teachers and sung with two of the most popular Swing Dance bands in the world; Gordon Webster’s band and the Shirt Tail Stompers.
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She is thrilled to be performing for our event, and is looking forward to swinging out in between her sets!
Castle Rock Jazz Band
Friday Welcome Party
Edinburgh Academy, 42 Henderson Row
The Castle Rock Jazz Band are in the business of serving up hot swing music, played by dancers for dancers. They draw influence from the great jazz artists and orchestras of the Swing era, while their experience as dancers ensures that the floor will be kept full all night. When they're not on the stage, they're busy jamming, working out new arrangements and throwing down on dance floors in Edinburgh and beyond.​
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Photo credit: Georgie Rastall
Colin Steele's Kings of Swing
Sunday Tea Dance
Edinburgh Academy, 42 Henderson Row
Trumpeter Colin Steele has pulled together a stellar line up of the very best and most swinging Scottish jazz musicians. Playing classic jazz hits from the 30s and 40s from the likes of Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman, grab your partners and get ready to dance your socks off. The band also have an enormous repertoire and will be happy to take requests!
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Colin is joined by Martin Foster (clarinet and saxophones) Campbell Normand (piano) Timmy Allen (double bass) and Jim Drummond (drums).​
