The Festival began in 1920 in the Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.

Covering a period of nine days this is by far the largest of all the five Blackpool Festivals. The Festival covers Ballroom and Latin American dancing, incorporating the British Open Championships for Adult Amateur and Professional couples, plus Formation Teams.

2005 saw the introduction of two new events, the British Rising Star Amateur Ballroom and Latin Competitions. The two Invitation events, the Professional Team Match on the Saturday and the Exhibition Competition on the Thursday evening, create a vast amount of interest and crowd appeal.