NOT YOUR TYPICAL BACHATA COMPETITION
GET READY TO BATTLE IT OUT
Just like everything else that is revolutionary in BBF, Bachata Battle is also not different. Show your best Bachata skills to win the hearts of the audience - AND The JUDGES in our signature Bachata Competition.
This is your only chance to win the grand money prize of €500 for first place (as a couple), as well as multiple Full Passes to a few of the most prestigious Bachata festivals in the world.
QUALIFIERS
SATURDAY, JUNE 21 - LUNCH BREAK
This is a Jack & Jill style qualifier round where you will dance to multiple songs with different partners. The judges will select the top 4 followers and leaders to qualify for the Battle.
THE BATTLE
SEMIFINALS & FINALS - SAT, JUNE 21 - PARTY (00:00–00:30)
The main competition is here. You will be assigned a partner randomly and will battle another pair in semi-finals and finals to reach the grand prize. It is not enough to impress the Judges; you will also have to win the audience's heart.
Prizes for the Winners
GRAND PRIZE
€500 in total - €250 each for leader and follower
2xFULL PASS
Bachata Geneva Festival 2026
2xFULL PASS
Terralivre Festival Winter Edition 2026
2xFULL PASS
Istanbul World Dance Congress 2026
BBF24 BATTLE
They took the courage to battle for the grand prize - but the biggest reward was their evolution as dancers.
RULES OF THE BATTLE
It is important that you have read and understood the rules of the competition. It is not rocket-science; you will easily get the grand prize if you are a good social dancer.
Participation
The minimum requirement for participating in the Battle is to own a Full Pass/Party Pass AND a Battle Pass. Party Passes are currently unavailable for sale but will be released closer to the event date. You may register for the Battle without having a Full Pass/Party Pass, but you cannot compete without a valid Full Pass or Party Pass. There will be no refunds for the Battle Pass.
You can register for the Battle as a leader or follower. This is to ensure that there will be at least 8 followers and 8 leaders for the Battle itself. You may use Role Rotation during each round with your partner, given the condition that you start every round in the role that you signed up for. Switching roles between rounds is not allowed.
The maximum number of registrations allowed will be 50 Followers and 50 Leaders.
The judges and line-up artists of BBF are not allowed to participate in the competition.
Qualifiers
The qualifiers will be on Saturday, June 21st, during the lunch break. The exact location at Atelier Gardens and time will be communicated to the participants in advance.
The qualifiers round aims to select the 4 best followers and leaders for the Battle. It will be judged similarly to the Jack & Jill style.
Judges for the qualifiers round will consist of line-up artists and will be announced later. The evaluation will be done on the following criteria for each leader and follower on an individual basis:
Leading & Following technique (3 points)
Musicality (3 points)
Connection (3 points)
Creativity (3 points)
Styling (3 points)
The final score for the participants will be calculated by adding up the scores in each criterion. Judge scores will be averaged to obtain the final score. The top 4 followers and 4 leaders who receive the highest score at the end of the qualifiers round will proceed to the Battle. For example:
Judge A scores:
Leading & Following technique (2/3)
Musicality (3/3)
Connection with the partner (2/3)
Creativity (3/3)
Styling (1/3)
Total: 2+3+2+3+1 = 11
Judge B scores:
Leading & Following technique (3/3)
Musicality (2/3)
Connection with the partner (2/3)
Creativity (2/3)
Styling (3/3)
Total average: 3+2+2+2+3 = 12
FINAL SCORE: (11 + 12)/2 = 11.5
If two or more participants obtain the same score for the 4th position, one name will be drawn randomly to select the 4th person.
Qualifiers will take place only if the number of registered leaders and followers is more than 4. If not, all the registered participants will directly proceed to the Battle without qualifiers.
At the beginning of the qualifiers, the leaders and followers might be placed in smaller groups for easier evaluation and more visibility. Each leader and follower in the group will pick a partner on a random basis to start dancing to a Bachata song. During the song, they will be asked to switch partners. By the time the song ends, all leaders and followers will have danced with each other at least once. The judges will assign the scores during the dance.
Absence in the qualifiers round will count as zero (0) points.
Winners of the qualifiers round will be communicated in the WhatsApp Group later in the day, before the battle.
Participants may e-mail info@adictobachata.com to inquire about their average scores in each category. Individual judge scoring and rankings among participants will not be revealed to allow the judges to vote objectively, and to protect the confidentiality of other participants.
The Battle
The Battle will take place during the Saturday Party at 00:00. The exact time will be communicated to the qualified participants in the WhatsApp group during the event.
Battle participants are the 4 followers and 4 leaders qualified through the Qualifiers. Direct participation in the Battle without qualifiers is not possible. The battles will be run in pairs, not individually.
The Battle consists of 2 rounds: semi-finals and finals. In each round, a pair (follower + leader) will battle with another pair (follower + leader) on stage.
Each leader will be paired up randomly with a follower on the spot, by drawing. This pair will stay together throughout the rest of the battle; partner changes are not allowed after this point. However, the roles of leader and follower may be "role-rotated" during the dances in each round.
The Battle judges are Felipe & Tiago, Kornel & Catharine, Brice & Manue, Duda & Adriana, Eduard & Maria. ADICTO reserves the right to change or update the judges before the competition. Such a change will be communicated to the participants in advance.
Besides the official judges, the audience will display their votes using voting cards each round. The majority of votes will determine the audience winner in each round. The audience vote will be included only in the final stage.
The battle scheme will be processed in an elimination format, as demonstrated below. Pairs will dance to a 1-minute part of a Bachata song in each round. The winner of each round will be awarded 1 point, and the loser will get zero points (0). The semi-final is won when a pair reaches 1 point.
The final consists of 2 partner battles and 1 solo battle of leader vs. leader and follower vs. follower pairings. The couple that collects the most points at the end of 3 battles gets first place. The couple that loses the final round gets 2nd place.
In each battle round, the pair that has collected the highest score from the judges and the audience will proceed to the next round. The judges will base their decision on the following:
Leading & Following technique
Musicality
Connection with the partner
Creativity
Styling
Fusion technique
Role rotation flow & technique (if chosen by the participants)
Each judge will give a yes/no decision. Every yes will count as 1 point. Every judge will place their vote individually, not as a couple. With this said, every participant can collect a maximum of 10 points and a minimum of zero (0) points from the judges.
The collective audience vote can reverse a judge's collective decision. For example, if Team A in a battle gets the highest judge score against Team B, and Team B gets the majority of the audience vote, Team B wins that round, although Team A has collected the highest score from the judges.
The team that wins the final phase wins the battle and the grand prize. The second place will be given to the losing participants in the final phase. Third place will be decided with a final battle between the losing pairs of the semi-finals phase.
Fair Play
Although this is a dance battle, it is still a social dance competition. For this reason, show tricks, acrobatics, lifts, and anything that a social dancer wouldn't do on a social dance floor will not be tolerated. Doing any of these during the competition to impress the judges or the audience will result in a warning, followed by -3 (minus three) points for the couple violating this rule. It will also not earn any extra points from the judges, so violating this rule does not bring any benefits. Repeated violations might disqualify the couple from the competition.
Any harmful act that might threaten the health, security, well-being, or integrity of other participants, the jury, the organizers, the competition itself, or the audience will result in immediate disqualification.
In case of sickness, injury, or absence, the qualified participants must inform the organizers immediately.
Final Remarks
ADICTO reserves the right to change the rules of the competition before it starts. The participants will be informed before the competition.
The grand prize will be transferred to the winners' bank accounts or PayPal address of choice, no later than 60 days after the end of the competition. Cash payments won't be allowed.
The full passes won cannot be exchanged for money. The ADICTO team will reach out to the organizers of each festival to issue the full passes.
ADICTO cannot be held liable for any injuries, damage, or losses incurred by participating in this competition. Every participant is asked to judge their own good health and form to participate in such a competition.
