Chance to Dance is a one day city centre dance festival that was established in 2000. The original idea came from Sheffield’s involvement in the World Health Organisation European Healthy City Movement. When Turku, a city in Finland, challenged other European cities to organise a city centre dance festival in the streets of their city.

The one day Sheffield Festival is very popular involving approximately 30 different dance groups on open ‘stages’ across the city centre. Dance groups reflect the wide diversity of cultures and types of dance available in the city. Part of the ethos of the festival is to encourage people to join in and have a go. This means that, since the start of Chance to Dance, up to 200,000 people have taken part in trying out different forms of dance – from Salsa to Bhangra from Ballroom to Modern Jive.