New York Sword Dance Festival
February 14-15 2026 will be the 40th Annual New York Sword Dance Festival! The event will feature ten performing troupes from across the northeastern U.S. in an exciting weekend of performances in public spaces in Brooklyn and Manhattan. The Festival, which started in 1986, is the oldest and first event in North America to focus on English-style sword dancing.
Performances will include lively, energetic rapper dancing, mystical, stately longsword dancing, and other related traditions, accompanied by live folk music. You can expect to see percussive stepping, swords woven into intricate stars and patterns, jumps and maybe even flips! All performances are free and family-friendly. All participating teams will perform at the Opening Showcase at Speyer Hall and the Grand Finale at the Brooklyn Waldorf School. The other performances will each feature 3-4 teams.
Visit the gallery to view some videos of performances from past years, or click on the links under "participating teams" below to learn more about the performers.
See Gallery→Event Schedule
Saturday, February 14th, 2026
10:00 a.m.
●●● OPENING SHOWCASE ●●●
Speyer Hall at University Settlement184 Eldridge Street, Manhattan
1:30 p.m.
Seward Park Library192 East Broadway, Manhattan
1:30 p.m.
Park Slope Library431 Sixth Avenue, Brooklyn
1:30 and 3:30 p.m.
Brooklyn Heights Library286 Cadman Plaza West, Brooklyn
3:30 p.m.
Pacific Library25 Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn
3:30 p.m.
Jefferson Market Library425 Sixth Avenue, Manhattan
Sunday, February 15th, 2026
12:30 p.m.
Brooklyn Conservatory of Music58 Seventh Avenue, Brooklyn
12:45 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church124 Henry Street, Brooklyn
12:45 p.m.
Old First Reformed Church729 Carroll Street, Brooklyn
2:30 p.m.
●●● GRAND FINALE ●●●
Brooklyn Waldorf School11 Jefferson Avenue, Brooklyn
*Use of library space by the New York Sword Dance Festival for this program does not indicate endorsement by The New York Public Library.
Participating Teams:
- And Sometimes Y/ Pioneer Valley, MA
- Bouwerie Boys Morris Dancers/ New York, NY
- Great Meadows Morris and Sword/ Sudbury, MA
- Half Moon Sword/ New York, NY
- Handsome Molly/ Princeton, NJ
- Harbour Steel/ Boston, MA
- Kraken Rapper/ Boston, MA
- Orion Longsword/ Boston, MA
- Rapa Bora/ Berea, KY
- Sligo Creek Sword/ Washington, DC
Press:
Please see our press release here, and feel free to contact us for more information!
For questions about the festival, please contact us at:
halfmoonsword@gmail.com
