Twilight In the Park

Twilight in the Park is a series of summer concerts in Balboa Park in San Diego. This review deals only with the practicalities of attending a big band (namely, Coronado Big Band) performance for the sole purpose of swing dancing. There are 2 – 3 such performances in a year.
Tips:
1) parking inside the park is possible, but might be tight by the time the performance starts (6:30PM). Come a bit earlier or attend a 5:30 free dance class. Check the lesson info on
2) The dance happens outdoors in the shade in front of the right side of the organ pavilion structure. The dance surface is the most atrocious of the ones I have danced on so far, made of very rough and non-​slippery bricks. Definitely keep your good shoes at home and avoid pivots at any cost. For the leads: lead as few turns as possible without being boring, stick to the walks whenever you can.
3) The nearest water fountain is in the restroom across the road, so bring a water bottle.
Expect about 40 dancers overall, with a pretty even split between leads and follows, however, many come as couples. Age range is huge, with both young and quite old dancers in large numbers. Skills are typically above the beginner level.
The performance is quite short, and the Coronado Big Band does a lot of talking in between the numbers. Couple this with very high tempo for some of the music that makes it hard to dance, and the total number of danceable tunes is around 10. Still, highly recommended for the ambiance.