World Lindy Hop Day Catalonia 2016 – A Frankie Month Recap

It’s no secret that Lindy Hop has become a worldwide phenomenon; no matter where you live, no matter how far you travel, you can find a place to dance. What’s more, each year brings new stories about the growth of Lindy Hop communities around the globe. This year, as Frankie Month came into full swing (pun intended), those of us here at the Frankie Manning Foundation had the privilege of witnessing some of this incredible growth first hand. As we sought out details about events that were being hosted in celebration of Frankie Month, we quickly noticed a trend. There were a lot of events coming out of Spain. Like, a lot of events. As in almost 30 events, all taking place in less than one month’s time, all happening in Catalonia, all in celebration of Frankie Month 2016. Hello, Spain.

We first caught wind of World Lindy Hop Day Catalonia when a flood of submissions came in for our [interactive map] of Frankie Month events. From dances, to lessons, to concerts, to a screening of a documentary about Frankie, Catalonia just couldn’t seem to get enough of Frankie Manning. Once Frankie Month ended and the dust of the month’s events had settled, we knew we had to learn more about everything that had taken place across the ocean, so we got in touch with Pep Espígol and Emi Garrote Pablo, two of the organizers, to find out more.

“We organized an open meeting for everybody who wanted to collaborate to make a bigger event. After a couple of open meetings, the Lindy Hop Day Catalunya Comission was born, with the help of BcnSwing to extend it to all the Catalan land. It was two weeks in which every single lindy scene could add its own tribute to Frankie, bigger or smaller, it didn’t matter. It was a big success, and this year we did it again. The idea was, again, to introduce Frankie Manning to all the dancers and to help them know his story.”

For a recap of the events that took place during Frankie Month in Catalonia, check out this cool video: