Bristol Shag Fiesta 2018 marked my 1 year anniversary as a ‘swing dance photographer’. A huge thanks to these lovely gals for giving me the opportunity to photograph an entire weekend for the first time at Bristol Shag Fiesta 2017. They run a fantastic event and are also just the most wonderful people. They are so considerate of artists and I just can’t thank them enough. For that, this event will always have a special place in my heart.

One thing that’s really been on my mind recently is same-sex dance partnerships – it was so nice to see it as such a norm at the Fiesta. I love the shag community for how common this is. 

The weekend brought a great opportunity to catch up with some of my favourite people, who I don’t get to see too often.

It also boasted some freaking ace performances!

And absolutely ridiculous competitions. I love a good jokey competition – they’re so much more fun to photograph than the serious ones!

(also shout out to glam second-shooter, Adam)

As always, people pulled it out of the bag with the nautical fancy dress. Kudos to them for still going for it, despite the absolutely mad temperatures!

The swan turned into quite a theme for the rest of the weekend, and put in quite a few appearances. 

I love this event for the general madness of it. Nobody takes anything too seriously and it’s just a fun free for all.  

Thanks for another great year, Bristol Shag Fiesta!