Why This Event?

  • Lindy Hop, Balboa, and Blues: We’re bringing all these together because we love dancing all of them! At every evening dance, there will be two rooms of music, so you can choose from hot jazz, slow blues, and everything in between.

  • Bringing Communities Together: Exchanges are all about connecting with distant friends and new faces. We’re building a schedule that brings us together off the dance floor, too. Check out our schedule to see what we have planned!

  • Local Flavor: We have built this event around celebrating what makes Rochester special! We’re supporting locally owned businesses through our catered meals and a record store crawl, and sharing some of the most beautiful parks our area has to offer. Our logo features flowers native to our region, and was created by local artist Eddie Mead.

  • Steps Toward Sustainability: We’re making tangible steps toward sustainability every year! For our 2026 event, we’re focusing on providing compostable single use utensils and offering merch that is made to last. We encourage you to bring your own water bottle and utensils, to carpool, and share housing!

FAQs

    • This event is created by Evan Brent (he/him) and Jasmine Mead (she/they), who both live, work, and dance here in Rochester NY and started Flower City Swing & Blues LLC in 2025 to support this event.

    • Our vision is to create an exchange event to complement all the wonderful dancing opportunities created by other organizations in the Rochester and Western NY region.

    • Jasmine has been dancing their whole life in a multitude of styles, but has a special love for solo movement, the moodiest of blues, and swinging out hard. She runs the Reverie Chorus Line here in Rochester.

    • Evan has been dancing jazz and blues styles for over a decade, and has been organizing events of all sorts for longer than that. He runs Red Hook Sound & Event Services and can be seen all over the northeast region supporting dance events and more.

  • You have options!

    • We’ll be organizing a very limited set of homestay and campsite spots. These options will be communicated ahead of registration and be included in that process.

    • BnB: Share a BnB with other dancers! There are a number of them in the South Wedge neighborhood inside walking distance to the main venue.

    • Hotels: There are numerous hotels in the area as well within driving distance.

  • Yes! Included in your registration is lunch on Saturday plus brunch and dinner on Sunday. These are full meals, with options for various dietary restrictions, designed to fuel your dancing! We’ll also have robust snacks at the late night parties.

    For other meals during the week, you’re free to bring your own or patron local Rochester eateries. We’ll be providing a list of our favorite spots if you’re looking for recommendations!

    • Our event is all about the intersection and overlap of jazz and blues music and dance styles! We are embracing the exchange of inspiration between different dance styles.

    • Throughout the evening dances we’ll have two rooms playing different styles of music, so you can find the music that fits your mood.

    • Our bands will play a lot of variety in musical styles throughout the weekend so you’ll be able to dance to live music regardless of your primary dance style!

    • Safety & Accessibility:

      • Our Safety & Accessibility program is here to set expectations for our community, and help hold people accountable.

        More details can be found on our Safety & Accessibility page.

    • Refund Policy:

      • Most of the costs of putting on an event like this are fixed, so we rely on the early commitment of registrants to enable the event’s success. Given that, we are happy to defer your entry at the cash value you paid this year toward a future year of the event, less the value of meals already reserved with the caterers if past the deadline.

      • Pass transfers will not be permitted, as it opens up the door to all sorts of scams.

Meet the Team

  • Evan Brent

    Co-Organizer

  • Jasmine Mead

    Co-Organizer