Vancity International SBK Festival,

About the event

Vancity International SBK Festival is an annual, three-day dance festvial which showcases local and international talents with a focus on Latin and African dances such as Salsa, Bachata and Kizomba. The festival is held every first weekend of March at the Grand Villa Casino Hotel & Conference Centre.

The festival combines educational workshops taught by world class instructors followed by three evenings of spectacular performances and friendly social dancing bringing people from all walks of life together through dance.

We bring in 20-30 International Instructors, 10-15 local instructors offering 40 workshops, 10 DJs and 90-100 performers. 

During the day, attendees partake in workshops where they can learn musicality, dance techniques, body movement, choreographies, dance etiquette and culture taught by exclusive talents and 'so-you-think-you-can-dance' choreographers.
Afterwards, attendees watch multitime world champions wow them to live performances with elaborate costumes and award winning shows every evening and after being inspired by jaw-dropping performances and amazing workshops, attendees witness the ballrooms transition into four dedicated dance rooms with rotating DJ's spinning Salsa, Bachata, Kizomba and Zouk where they can practice their dance moves or even dance with the stars.

In between workshops and before and after performances, attendees can lounge around our vendor area, shop, socialize and explore vendor booths.

Since our festival is action packed and because vendor booths are strategically placed at the entrance, majority of attendees spend the entire weekend at the Festival venue and must pass by your vendor booth giving you maximum exposure and ensuring impressions are made on every single attendee.

Why should you sponsor?

The Vancity International SBK Festival is a community favourite which draws attendees and artists from all over the globe. Our attendees include a variety of people of all ages and ethnic backgrounds with a high attendance from Vancouver, Vancouver Island, the interior of BC, Kelowna, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Reno, San Diego, Buffalo, Las Vegas and other surrounding areas. We host at least 1000 attendees annualy at our Festival and continue to expand. 

Our target market is an all age group predominantly made up of young professionals in their mid 20-50s. We continue to increase our SEO and make our current website (VanctiySBK.com) as user and search engine friendly as possible for online exposure and ticket sales. We also continue to expand our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/VancitySBK), Eventbrite reach, email lists and other social media tools.

We also organize other events during the year such as the Vancity SBK Launch Parties, Vancity SBK Teasers and Vancity SBK Preparties.
We not only make impactful local impressions, but our reach extends across Canada and the US. Our promotional team actively hands out flyers at dance events, local summer festivals (100,000 attendees) and international events of the like (500-2500 attendees). Our team also attends a wide range of dance events in various cities to promote our festival. We also collaborate with local and international instructors, promoters, organizers and dance schools keeping their followers in arm's reach. 

Our program, our unique combination of services as well as our hand-picked artists, instructors, and entertainment have helped in growing our flattering reputation.

Our event can be enjoyed by just about anyone: beginners, avid dancers, families and even dance instructors. Our customers range from absolute beginners to intermediate and advanced dancers. We provide dance enthusiasts a friendly and welcoming environment to expand knowledge of SBK (Salsa, Bachata, and/or Kizomba) dances, culture and music. Our entertainment caters to a wide range of attendees: from dancers and non-dancers, to young talents and seniors who enjoy a nice atmosphere of live performances and dance.

We love dancing because we believe it plays a big role in bringing communities together. The art of dance is a form of communication on an alternate level, a place where differences and negativity are left behind, and genuine connections flourish. It grows friendships, relationships, creativity, passion, confidence, community and love. We strongly feel that if you bring people together over dance you can help overcome hostilities and affluently build community, leaving behind a trail of smiles whether the crowd is dancing, enjoying watching others dance or simply being a part of the music.

We look forward to working with companies/ organizations as passionate about community as we are!

R Laila

Roud Laila is the Founder & Head Organizer of the Vancity International SBK Festival and Owner & President of Brokenshoe Productions Inc.

Roud has a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Spanish and English literature from UBC.  She has been long enthused by culture, dance and literature and has taught and managed programs in cities around the globe. She resides in Vancouver where she has been part of the show management of the BC Home & Garden Show and Interior Design Show. She also worked as the lead PR and area rep for a local direct-trade company, Latin Organics and is well versed in drafting agreements, talent recruiting, event logistics, and graphic designing. Roud is fluently trilingual and currently works in Business and Manual Development for Clearview Systems Ltd. 

Roud has become a highly integrated and exceptionally influential persona in the Salsa, Bachata, and Kizomba dance community both inside and outside Vancouver. She is also very well connected with various head organizers of similar dance festivals in other cities including Seattle, Toronto, Kelowna, Victoria, Nanaimo, Los Angeles, Boston, Portland, RoseCity, Washington DC, San Diego, San Francisco, Reno, Boca Chica and Mexico city.

"I adore how dancing is a language we can explore where no ‘body’ is illiterate and no soul is too old or too young to enjoy. For me, every dance creates a story where no narrative is the same, each more interesting than the previous tale. I believe dancing has the potential to build stronger communities, confidence and strength to spur love. I hope to share my passion for dance, spreading positivity and culture" --Roud Laila

Earnestly moved by dance, Roud decided to take on a festival she saw a yearning for and so it all began.

Roud has successfully built up a following across Canada and the US and promoted, coordinated, managed and ran her own annual, international Festival from the very beginnings which is now heading for its third year this coming and long anticipated March 2017.  

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