The Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain
The Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain, or the World Circus Festival of Tomorrow, in Paris, was founded in 1977 and is considered the largest contemporary circus festival in the world. For artists, it opens up exceptional career opportunities, and for spectators, it offers an unforgettable experience of a unique modern show in the world’s largest circus tent with 6,000 seats.
The idea of creating such a tent came to producer and enthusiast Alain M. Pacheri in October 1999 when his first dream tent was destroyed by a storm in France. At that moment, Alain envisioned an insanely large circus, free of any internal structures or masts, providing unparalleled visibility for the audience. In December 2000, the circus born from the storm — “Phoenix” — opened its doors to the public. “Phoenix” is truly impressive in scale: the tent area is 4,230 m² (half the size of a football field!), the height under the dome is 15 m, and setting up the tent takes 720 hours (if the work is done in two 10-hour shifts, the process takes 36 days), with 256 hours for the bleachers and 2,800 hours for the interior.
The festival focuses on young talents and is known for its attention to innovations in circus art.
Since 2019, Ukrainian artists have been presenting their works at the festival annually. Among them are the circus group “Inshi” and Anton Managarov (bronze medal) in 2024, Duo Gemini — Olga and Yulia Mosiyenko (bronze) in 2023, Valeriia Davydenko (silver medal), Veronika Horshkova (read our interviews with Valeriia and Veronika), Dmytro Bakhtin, Kateryna Nikiforova in 2020, and Kostiantyn Korostylenko in 2019.
Read our interview with Veronika Goroshkova
The presence of Ukrainians on such a scale cannot but bring joy. The festival takes place at the end of January, and applications for the 2025 edition were accepted until October 15. More detailed information and tickets can be found on the festival website.
The International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo
The variety and coexistence of contrasts make the circus world so amazing and diverse. During the Paris Festival in late January, Monaco also celebrates circus traditions and continuity. In 1974, Prince Rainier III founded the festival to support classical circus and circus families. In 2005, his daughter, Princess Stephanie, became the festival’s president, continuing her father’s tradition. In 2012, together with her daughter Pauline, she founded “New Generation,” a category for young artists.
As a traditional festival, the arena features acts with animal training every year. It is also one of the most prestigious and largest circus festivals in the world. The festival’s main award, the Golden Clown, is the highest recognition in the circus world, akin to an Oscar for circus artists. The festival is an important part of Monaco’s cultural life, and in 2024 it celebrated its 50th anniversary, marking its 46th edition. The discrepancy is due to the fact that the festival was not held a few times over these 50 years (for example, twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic).
This year (2024), the Bronze Clown of the 46th festival was awarded to Extreme Light, a Ukrainian team specializing in LED shows and dance performances, as well as to White Gothic, a group of artists from the Ukrainian State Circus Company. Additionally, the Bingo Circus Theatre took part in the festival’s opening and final dedication.
At the 45th festival (in 2023), six Clowns came to Ukraine from Monte Carlo. Amelia Bilyk won gold in the youth category, Sofia Grechko and Vladyslava Naraeva — youth Silver Clowns, Viktoriia Dziuba — Silver Clown in the main category, the Bingo Theatre led by Iryna Herman — Bronze Clown, Oleksii Hryhorov and Marina Hlavatksykh from Luhansk — Silver Clown.
On the festival’s website, you can learn about past winners and prizewinners, purchase tickets, but you cannot apply or familiarize yourself with the rules and regulations. This is also one of the peculiarities of the festival. Circus artists joke that Monte-Carlo is the mafia of the circus world, setting its own rules and regulations. And to some extent, this is true, as invitations to the festival are personally received from the organizing team. The selection is made by festival representatives and scouts who attend other world-class circus events, becoming jury members at competitions and festivals. Artists who actively pursue their creative activities, participate in international events, actively run social media pages, and show rapid growth in unique or rare disciplines have a chance to receive an invitation.
Young Stage
Returning from tradition to the future, the international circus festival Young Stage (Basel, Switzerland) stands for something modern, advanced, and bold.
This is the largest international circus festival in Switzerland, and it is among the most important festivals worldwide. Traditionally held in spring (March-April), in 2025, due to the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Young Stage was moved to autumn. Key events of the festival include:
- the festival and competition for circus artists;
- a street circus show: a public event that has been held since 2018, with free performances by circus companies and opportunities for children to try different circus disciplines;
- networking events: panel discussions, workshops, and “circus speed dating,” where artists can meet agents and producers;
- circus camps: during the coronavirus lockdown, circus camps for children were launched, allowing them to learn different circus disciplines under the guidance of professionals and perform in a final show;
- national circus convention: children and teenagers have the opportunity to work with experienced artists, gaining experience and inspiration from professionals.
In 2025, the festival will hold its Grand Finale, marking its last edition. According to the organizers’ press release, the decision was influenced by several factors, including increasing administrative and financial challenges that distracted from creative work and required significant external funding. The festival’s founder, Nadja Berger, could not find a successor willing to take on the responsibility and risks. Now, Ms. Berger plans to return to creative activity and support young artists, focusing on promoting contemporary circus art.
Therefore, this year’s selection process promises to be competitive, as it’s the last chance for artists to participate in this major circus event. Let’s recall the Ukrainians who have already had the chance to shine on the Young Stage. Among them were Anton Managarov and the group “Inshi” (bronze award) in 2024; Artur Dudov and Esmira Kuliyeva in 2023; Angelina Fedorko and Oleksandra Chala, Maksym Voronin in 2022; Stepan and Vasyl Kuts, Kostiantyn Korostylenko in 2021.
For several years, the world-renowned juggler of Ukrainian origin, Viktor Kee, has been invited to judge artists at Young Stage.
Tickets, applications, and all possible information about Young Stage can be found on the festival website.
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The next festival on our list is a bit of an outlier. However, we could not overlook it, as it is an extremely significant event in the world of performing arts, and this year a Ukrainian circus group represented the country for the first time on the stage of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival, held annually in August in Edinburgh, Scotland. It started in 1947 and has since become an important platform for theater, music, comedy, and other forms of stage art.
Why is it so important? Fringe is known for its openness to everyone, regardless of experience. Anyone can apply to participate, providing new and lesser-known artists with the opportunity to showcase their talents. The festival features a wide range of genres — from comedy and drama to dance, music, performance art, and, of course, circus arts. This creates a unique cultural atmosphere. The festival has a significant impact on culture both in the UK and beyond. It draws attention to important social issues and fosters the exchange of ideas. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is not just an event, but a cultural phenomenon that promotes and popularizes the arts worldwide.
So, who represented Ukraine at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for the first time? “Inshi”, led by Roman Khafizov, performed the play “RÊVES” (French for “dreams”) on the festival stage in August 2024. This was a significant achievement for the group, considering the media exposure and publicity they received during their month-long participation. They wrote on their Instagram profile:
And here is the BBC News story about “Inshi” and their “Dreams” at the Edinburgh Festival.
The festival website contains numerous helpful articles about participation, application, nominations, awards, values, and festival ideas, as well as articles about participants and much more.
Cyrkulacje
We want to end this list on a positive and uplifting note. So, let’s share one more circus festival with clear values and moral guidelines. Cyrkulacje is an Eastern European contemporary circus festival held annually in Lublin in autumn, specifically in September. The festival, dedicated to contemporary circus art, gathers artists and audiences from various Eastern European countries. Founded in 2010, it has become an important part of Lublin’s cultural life and one of the most renowned circus festivals in Eastern Europe.
The main goal of the festival is to create a platform for experience exchange among artists, develop circus art, and promote it to a broad audience. Cyrkulacje has become a key element of Lublin’s cultural identity, contributing to the growth of interest in contemporary circus as an art that crosses the boundaries between various genres. Additionally, the festival promotes the integration of the European circus community by bringing together artists, educators, and producers. It expands the boundaries of contemporary circus art at the intersection of Eastern and Western circus traditions.
A special feature of this year’s Cyrkulacje was the list of finalists, half of whom (without exaggeration) were Ukrainian artists: Husain Hulyamov, Hennadii Bondarenko, Anastasiia Sholokhova (who received the festival’s gold award, gained a lot of satisfaction, and prepared this material for you), Vladyslava Naraeva, the trio “Inshi” (part of the “Inshi” group) (second place), Olga Boyko, Ivan Korniichuk in duo with Nicole Kryvenko.
Apart from the final competition of circus acts, the festival features full-fledged shows throughout the month. This year, viewers had the chance to see the circus show “Lyalka”. “Lyalka” is a show, created in collaboration with the Kyiv Academy of Circus and Variety Arts, which unites a group of eight young artists who had to evacuate from Kyiv to Berlin and Budapest in the spring of 2022. The show’s director is the academy’s chief choreographer, Gulnara Savenko. The performance conveys a message of hope and self-belief: if you cut the strings that bind you, you can grow beyond yourself. This message also reflects the lives of young artists who were forced to leave their usual environment due to the war in Ukraine.
More details about Cyrkulacje, tickets for shows, and application forms can be found at: https://cyrkulacje.eu/en/home/.
European circus festivals not only support young performers, offering career opportunities and strengthening the international circus community but also serve as important cultural institutions that influence the development of performing arts, promote cultural exchange, and draw attention to significant issues.
Our presence at such events not only highlights the skill of the Ukrainian circus school but also demonstrates the ability of circus culture to integrate into the global context, emphasizing the importance of cultural diplomacy on the world stage and its ability to convey important messages to Western audiences through the language of art.
One such message is that Russia and Russians have no place in today’s civilized world events. This was recently vividly conveyed to the international audience by Ukrainian Anna Petrenko.
You can read about Anna’s performance and her open protest at the “Salieri” festival in Italy here.
Most importantly, regarding both creativity and everything happening around it in the real world, is to believe in your own strength. For us, the highest virtue of art (circus included) is its undeniable ability to change the world. And European circus festivals are wonderful spaces for realizing this potential.
Subscribe to Circus Life on Instagram and TikTok, and listen to new episodes of our Bla Bla Circus podcast on YouTube.
