Exciting news today about the venue for Etonathon 2017.

St. Bernards Convent told us they needed much tighter security arrangements for the event, which would have caused major headaches on top of the factors we had already discovered at the Charity event we held there in May.  But after the first milongas at Old Windsor Memorial Hall we’ve heard lots of great feedback about the Hall and its great dance floor, so it crossed our minds that Old Windsor would be the right venue for the Etonathon event instead.

There was just one problem; there were already some bookings at Old Windsor when we would want to be there.  Hmmm… So we sent a few emails and made a few phone calls, and over the next couple of weeks slowly the pieces started to fall into place. Then yesterday we got the news that the final hurdle had been removed and we could use Old Windsor Memorial Hall for the entire 4 days 27-30 December! Fist bumps all round!

We’re really pleased; the dance floor at Old Windsor is one of the best we’ve ever danced on, and it’s got a lot of other things that make it a better choice, too, including the acoustics, ventilation, access, and technical facilities.

And it looks like we might also be able to fit in an extra opening Milonga on the afternoon of Wednesday 27^th December too!

We used the Baldwin Hall in Eton for many years before our bookings were terminated without an explanation.  It took months of asking before we finally found out that it was because the Hall’s Trustees preferred to keep the Hall for use by locals only.

Now I’ve been hearing on the grapevine that other users of the Hall are having a hard time with bookings also. Yes, it seems that even minor bookings are being rejected if it doesn’t suit the Trustees.

OK, so I’m biased, but it makes me wonder quite why bookings are being declined even when the Hall could otherwise be empty. Are there really that many people in Eton who might possibly want to use the Hall instead?

And there’s the wider effect on the Eton to consider. Over the years we used the hall we brought in thousands of dancers to Eton who then spent money in the local pubs and restaurants and shops. I’m left wondering about a strategy that’ll leave a resource standing empty instead of having a facility bringing in visitors and boosting the local economy.

It’s comforting to know it isn’t only our Tango events that are being affected by this strange decision. Luckily for us, we’ve now found a new venue with better parking, a better dance floor, better toilets, installed sound system, plenty of power sockets, Wifi, and a friendly organiser. So we’re not bothered.

Well, hello again. What a couple of months it has been! The biggest news is the re-start of our milongas, as the new venue at old Windsor.

The opening night was a real heart-in-mouth moment for us; we had spent days and weeks preparing and doing dress rehearsals too. Sarah spent hours making bespoke bunting in beautiful colours and we created longs chains of fairy lights and rope lights to create a magical atmosphere.

The big unknown for me as the DJ was the quality of the sound once the room was full of people chatting and dancing on top of the dance music. There really is no way to predict how it will go, and I was really nervous – I guess it might have showed. The hall has huge speakers installed, but I chose to supplement them with an array of our own speakers just to give the best possible sound quality. Of course, that also meant miles of audio cables to connect and power cables too. As it turned out it was great, and I needn’t have been concerned about it.

Luckily we never needed to worry about the dance floor. It is absolutely fantastic; silky smooth.

The doors opened and we were amazed at the huge crowd of dancers that arrived; it was unbelievable! We hadn’t dreamt that there would be so many people coming along to support us and celebrate the new venue. The food was gobbled up, and the dance floor was packed all night.

So, that’s it; we are under way again in a great new venue that has happy reviews, and I can’t begin to describe how fantastic that feels.