Dance Marathon, hosted annually by UGA Miracle at the University of Georgia, will celebrate its 30th year with a move from the traditional Tate Center Grand Hall to the Stegeman Coliseum and shortened from its usual 26-hour format to 13 hours.

Advisors and the Children’s Miracle Network have been urging schools to shorten their marathons in the efforts to better accommodate students and keep their engagement. Additionally, this has allowed staff room to roll out events in a manner that prevents burn-out. This change in format and location is its first for UGA Miracle in 30 years. 

Though these changes have proposed challenges, UGA Miracle is committed to preserving the familiar atmosphere and standard of the event in prior years according to Stella Mele, a fourth-year Biology major and UGA Miracle’s program director.

“I would say the new location has been the biggest barrier, but we’re definitely finding ways to navigate it, find spaces for all the things that we used to have, as well as adding things to our marathon,” said Stella Mele . 

“Obviously a lot of people in our organization came from that 26-hour Dance Marathon, so making sure that we’re getting them all on the same page and super excited, I think that was another challenge with the event changing this year,” said Lexi Buzzell, a fourth-year Finance major and UGA Miracle’s external director.  

This isn’t the first time UGA Miracle has had to adapt to steep changes on a whim. In February 2024, news that the death of students, Laken Riley and Wyatt Banks, occurred within the span of two days from separate, isolated events shocked the UGA community. According to an article published on the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals’ website, students were concerned for the mental health and safety of the entire student body. UGA Miracle committed itself to using its influence and message to provide a safe-space and incite a sense of hope for the grieving community by following through with their hosting of last year’s Dance Marathon. According to the article, the decision was tough to make but Miracle staff believed it could shine a positive light in dark times.

UGA Miracle raised over $195,000 during the span of the event, increasing their year-over-year total. Over the course of the past year, they raised over $1 million for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. 

UGA Miracle directors said there is not a public financial goal, but they always aim to do better than they did the year before. 

“I’m really proud of our team and everything we’ve been able to accomplish this year. So, I mean if we don't hit, like, the exact goal of numbers of fundraising that we are aiming for, I mean, it’s not, like that doesn’t measure the success of, like, the entire year of work, if that makes sense,” said Buzzell. 

This year’s Dance Marathon is being held on March 29, and begins at 10:30 a.m. Check-in starts at 10 a.m. More information can be found on the UGA Miracle website.