World Baton Twirling Day Date in the current year: April 10, 2024

Baton twirling is a sport that involves manipulating a metal rod with rubber ends, called a baton, with one’s hands and body to a coordinated routine set to music. It is a relatively new sport whose origins are somewhat murky. It is generally believed that the roots of modern baton twirling can be traced back to Eastern European and Asian dance festivals where dancers would twirl and toss sticks, torches, knives, and other items.

Marjorettes were another inspiration for the modern sport of baton twirling. They originated as entertainers in the military, whose performances combined dance movements with the manipulation of objects such as drill purpose rifles, maces, batons, and flags. Today, marjorettes often perform with marching bands and in various parades.

In the mid-20th century, baton twirling started to develop into a separate sport. While marjorettes continued to perform with marching bands, the first baton twirling associations began to emerge in the United States and then in other parts of the world. The first international organization for the sport was the World Baton Twirling Federation (WBTF), founded in London in 1977. It organized the first World Demonstration of Baton Twirling in 1979 and held the inaugural World Baton Twirling Championships in 1980.

In the 2020s, the World Baton Twirling Federation teamed up with the World Federation of National Baton Twirling Associations (WFNBTA) to form the International Baton Twirling Federation (IBTF), with the aim of the newly founded organization to become the single international governing body for baton twirling, standardize the sport, and eventually make it an Olympic sport.

Baton twirling may seem effortless, but it requires excellent coordination, muscle control, agility, strength, and balance, as well as specific knowledge of holding and manipulating the baton or batons. In competitive twirling, athletes are classified by their skill level, ranging from novice to advanced, and age.

The main international competition in the sport of baton twirling is the IBTF World Freestyle & Rhythmic Twirl Championship. It features the following disciplines: Freestyle Solo (Junior Women/Men, Senior Women/Men), Rhythmic Twirl (Junior Women/Men, Senior Women/Men), Freestyle Pair (Junior Pair, Senior Pair), Freestyle Team.

World Baton Twirling Day (WBTD) was launched in 2017 to raise awareness of baton twirling on a global scale and get people interested in the sport. You can get involved with the celebration by watching baton twirling videos on YouTube, looking up if there are any baton twirling demonstrations or classes near you, learning a baton twirling routine (every year, the IBTF posts the official WBTD routine for people to try and learn), and spreading the word on social media with the hashtag #WorldBatonTwirlingDay.