FAQ

door sales merch payment classes AC kids no competitions activities theme night facebook/signal covid transfer/postpone illness housing fragrance policy buy music accessibility transit stuff to do restaurants event food other

Can I buy tickets for part of North Star ahead of time? Will there be tickets available at the door?

We only sell full weekend passes ahead of time because we prioritize event attendees who plan to attend the entire event. Without pre registrations it would be impossible to run North Star as we have to pay deposits and buy food and supplies ahead of time. We greatly appreciate everyone who registers early!

If we do not sell out before the event, we will have tickets available at the door.

Can I get merch?

Yes! We're still working on the details for merch for 2026, but we'll have it all sorted out by June 20th, when registration opens. Merch orders will be part of the registration process. We generally do not order extra items for purchase at the door (lthat leaves us carting around the extras for years!), although we do post designs on TeePublic for individual orders. See past NSB designs here.

What payment methods do you accept?

For registration ahead of time we accept Venmo (@collectivelyblue or account.venmo.com/u/collectivelyblue) and PayPal (collectivelyblue@gmail.com or paypal.com/paypalme/collectivelyblue). Both PayPal and Venmo are free to create an account and you can link them to a bank account or credit/debit card.

If we are not sold out before the event, we will also accept credit cards at the door via Square. We do not accept cash or checks for North Star or any Collectively Blue event.

Are there classes?

Nope! Just a full weekend of great music, hangouts, dancing, and partying.

Will there be air conditioning?

Yes! All of our venues have AC. Air conditioning cannot always keep up with a full room of dancers, but we'll do our best. We'll have water, please drink it! There will be some cold treats!

Can I bring my kids?

We want dancers with kids to be able to dance with us! Both of our afternoon events are will be totally family friendly and we intend to have a group childcare option for kids 10 or younger available for the evening dances. More details to come.

Will you have a competition this year?

Nope! But we have other fun activities planned!

What kind of activities do you have planned for the weekend?

We're inviting the scenes that had the largest North Star Blues 2025 attendance to each bring a choreography that represents their scene. Plus we'll have a local Minnesotan entry. Prepare to be inspired by the creativity and character of different blues dance scenes!

Will there be a themed outfit night again this year?

This year our Saturday outfit theme is Under the Sea! We hope to see you in your finest fishnets, shiniest scales, or most aquatic aquas. That said, please be mindful that some folks may say no to a dance if you’re wearing glitter!

Will I miss information if I don't have social media?

The facebook event is public — at least on desktop you should be able to see the posts there without signing in. We'll do our best to make sure all information is on the website too! We also have a signal group this year! You can join to get updates, ask questions, etc.

What is the covid policy?

In alignment with general social norms we will not have COVID-19 vaccine/testing requirements. Masks will be welcome but not required. N95s will be available for free at the door.

Can I transfer or postpone my pass or get a refund?

No refunds will be issued for any reason. Dancers may transfer a pass to another person (email the pass recipient and northstarblues.exchange@gmail.com to coordinate), or in the case of last minute illness/injury/other emergency may defer their pass to North Star Blues 2027. Passes may not be deferred more than once.

What if I get sick?

To protect our community, if you are experiencing symptoms of any communicable illness at the time of the event, you will not be allowed to attend and your pass will be deferred to next year's North Star Blues. All dancers are expected to pay attention to their own health and send an email to northstarblues.exchange@gmail.com if they have attended part of the event and have developed symptoms consistent with a communicable illness. The North Star Blues organizer team will then alert all event attendees via the email addresses provided on this registration form. We will not reveal the name of the person reporting, unless they explicitly say that they prefer we do.

Is housing available?

You'll be able to request housing when you register. Although we cannot guarantee housing placement, we've been able to find spots for everyone who requested housing in the last 5 years of North Star Blues. Housing assignments typically go out in early August by email. We do ask in our housing form whether you can comfortably afford to stay elsewhere. If we're running out of spots and you checked this option, we'll get in touch.

What is the fragrance policy?

Please don't bring or use strongly fragranced products, as we have community members who are fragrance sensitive. The biggest offenders for fragrance sensitive folks are generally perfume/cologne, strongly scented lotions (think Bath and Body Works), and scented hand sanitizer. Scented deodorant and most hair products are generally not an issue. We’ll provide plenty of unscented hand sanitizer!

There was a song I loved! How can I listen to it more?

For DJed songs, we encourage you to ask the DJ about the song! Sharing music is a big part of the blues dance culture and our DJs will consider it a huge compliment (and they are more accurate than Shazam!). We encourage you to buy songs if at all possible to support artists and their descendants.

How accessible are the venues?

  • Lindy’s house has several front steps, and has a first floor bathroom.
  • PNA Hall has a flight of stairs to get to the space we'll be in, and has multi-stall bathrooms that we will label all-gender.
  • Midtown Global Market is has access ramps and multi-stall mens/womens bathrooms with ADA accessible stalls.
  • Four Seasons has an access ramp and single-stall all-gender bathrooms.

We’d love to hear from you if any of this brings up any concerns for you or if there are other aspects of accessibility you have questions about or need help with.

What is the public transit/rideshare situation in the Twin Cities?

We have a bus and light rail system, including a light rail line directly to the airport. You can use google maps to navigate it. It works, but as with most US cities it can take a while. Lyft and Uber are also available.

I’ll be in town Friday/Monday, what should I do?

We encourage locals to post on the facebook group if they are interested in hosting folks who want to do things like play board games. We’d also recommend:

Where should I eat?

Here's a map with the venues and a bunch of recommendations!

What food will you provide? How do you handle allergies and dietary restrictions?

We will provide late night snacks (think: cookies, fruits and veggies, hummus and chips, cheese and crackers, etc) on Friday just after the band ends around midnight. Saturday we’ll do a hot food item, also right after the band ends around midnight. Sunday we’ll do snacks again and likely put them out a little earlier since we won’t have a live band. We will label allergens attendees identify in their registration in these items and make sure we have options that will work for a variety of diets (gluten free, vegetarian, vegan for sure). We will avoid any foods with peanuts or tree nuts and ask that you do not bring any into any of our venues.

What if my question isn’t in the FAQ?

If you still have questions, please email northstarblues.exchange@gmail.com and we will get back to you within a few days. This is an organization run on enthusiasm, we try to respond quickly but sometimes the rest of life gets busy!