Registration – Big City Blues

Big City Blues is over
Thank you for joining!

Read our Terms & conditions (below), Code of Conduct and Privacy & cookie Policy.

Prices

Sliding Scale for Full Passes

For the full passes we offer a sliding scale. In case you want to apply a justified reduction, you can easily click the reduction that you need in the registration form without needing to clarify anything else. We trust the genuine honesty of our participants to make festival access more equitous for everyone.

We will do our best to help until the resources of the social and sustainability fund run out. Please be aware that we can only offer the amount of reductions in proportion to the amount of donations to the fund. We guarantee that at least 20% of the fund will be invested in NGOs that support our values. You can find more info about the Social & Sustainability Fund here.

Local dancers (Ghentians) can get a partial reduction by using the UiTPAS kansentarief. If you’re a passholder, please register through the form and send us an email with your UiTPAS number.

LouisLou vzw (Upside Down) is partner van UiTPAS regio Gent. UiTPAS regio Gent is een digitale kaart waarmee je aan cultuur, sport of jeugdactiviteiten kan doen. Je kan met de kaart punten sparen. Die kan je dan omruilen voor een korting, een cadeau of een ander fijn voordeel.

Ben je inwoner van Gent, Merelbeke, Destelbergen, Melle of Lochristi en kom je in aanmerking voor verhoogde tegemoetkoming of ben je in schuldbemiddeling? Dan krijg je extra korting met je UiTPAS. Alle Info over UiTPAS vind je op: www.uitingent.be/uitpas. Ticket met kansentarief? Mail naar bigcityblues@upside-down.be .

Party Passes

There is a limited batch of Party Passes for 3 nights available. Register by clicking on the button at the top of this page. We encourage you to register with a partner in the other dance role.

Info about the parties

Family Pass

We offer parents the option to share a Big City Blues Full Pass so they can alternate in joining the track workshops during the day and the parties at night, and taking care of the kid(s). Send us an e-mail when you register.

Terms & conditions

Registration FAQs

How do I register?

Click on the ‘register’ button at the top of this page. This button will appear once registration time opens.
Log in to your account or create one. Please note that if you register as a couple, each participant will need to create their own account. Please also note that if you have joined an event organized by Upside Down before with the same registration system (such as Upside Down Festival or Upside Down @ Gentse Feesten), you can reuse the same log-in information.
Select your preferred track, and add optional workshops and other extras as you see fit.
In case you register for a partnered track with a partner, add a partner by providing their email address.
Once you register, we need some time to process the registration. It’s possible you need to wait a few days before you hear from us.
If you’re in, you will be invited to pay with Visa, MasterCard, Bancontact or iDEAL within 10 days. After one reminder, we’ll consider your registration not legitimate anymore. If you have issues with the payment, get in touch.
After payment, your ticket will be immediately and automatically sent to your email address.

Do I need to register with a partner?

To keep the festival balanced, we welcome an equal number of leaders and followers.
We encourage you to register with a dance partner, especially if you are in a partnered track.
Single registration for a partnered track is possible, but you might be on the waiting list until we find a match.
If you are used to dance in both roles, you can sign up as a switch dancer. If you do this, we expect you to dance 50% of the time as a lead and 50% of the time as a follow. We believe that this is necessary to keep the quality of the festival high, and to make sure that everyone is having a good time during the parties.
If you are on the waiting list and later on you find a dance partner, ask your partner to add you as their dance partner so you can be matched.

Who can participate?

The Festival’s activities are open to all bodies. Read our Code of Conduct for more information. Under “practical” > “locations” you can check the accessibility for our venues.
We brief our inspirers about working with dancers of different ages, levels and bodies, and encourage them to develop inclusive teaching methods.
We strongly believe that diversity is enriching for all participants, and want to make the festival as inclusive as possible. We know this is an ongoing process, so please let us know how we can do better.
We invite you to let us know in the registration form or by email if there is anything we can take into account regarding the inclusivity of the Festival’s activities.

When do I pay?

Payment has to be done within 10 days after you receive the payment details. If you do not complete the payment, we might have to dismiss your registration and give your spot to someone on the waiting list.
If you want to pay in installments, that is possible. Contact us.
Questions or problems regarding the payment? Don’t hesitate to contact us.

Can I cancel my registration?

If you haven’t paid yet, you can cancel your ticket by sending us an email. Please do, so we can give your spot to somebody else.
You paid for your ticket but you can’t make it after all? There are two options:
- Sell your ticket to someone with the same role (leader, follower or switch) and same level and let us know. You can sell it via the Facebook event, for example.
- Inform us via email and we’ll check the waiting list. If there is someone on the waiting list who fits what you signed up for, we’ll refund your payment -15% administrative fee. We offer this option only until end of December 2025. If we can’t find someone to take your spot, we won’t be able to give you a refund.
If you have received a spot because you signed up with a partner, your spot is only secured if your partner has also registered and paid. If your partner cancels the festival, you will need to find a replacement in order to keep your spot. You can either find a replacement yourself or write an email to us as we might be able to find someone from the waiting list. In that case, we will refund your partner’s payment -15% administrative fee.

What if the festival is cancelled?

In case of a Force Majeure, meaning we have to cancel the festival, we’ll refund tickets for 75%. Unfortunately, any other costs or related losses (travel, accommodation etc.) that the participant incurs due to cancellation, cannot be covered by the organization.

Can I join only for the parties?

If we are not sold out yet, we will open registration for party passes. Stay tuned.

General festival rules

By registering for Big City Blues every participant agrees to picture and video recordings as well as to the use and publication of such recordings for the purposes of public reporting on the event or of marketing of the services offered on our websites, including in social media. If you do not want your image recorded or photographed, send us an email and we will look for a solution together.
For the rare occasion of a teacher getting sick or missing their travel we might have to substitute the teacher in your track or we might have to change the schedule.
We reserve the right to change the time or location of the evening dances, and will communicate any changes on the website and/or social media page.
LouisLou vzw (Upside Down) reserves the right to prioritize people with certain profiles in function of maintaining a balanced audience: ‘level’ of dancing, dance role and socio-economic profiles.
LouisLou vzw (Upside Down) reserves the right to refuse admittance to anyone during the festival.
If you behave inappropriately (see Code Of Conduct), you may be asked to leave without any refunds given.
LouisLou vzw (Upside Down) does not take any responsibility for incidents and/or injuries nor for personal items or valuables that are lost or stolen during the event. Look out for yourself and for others as well.
With your registration to this festival you accept our terms and conditions, and Code of Conduct.