Circus festival

A clowning or circus festival is an event that features shows, parades, performers, and other attractions related to clowns, mimes, jugglers, acrobats, and the general circus arts. Festivals specific to clowning and circus performance help promote this unique form of entertainment and offer fans and performers alike the chance to celebrate their vibrant culture and community.

Origins and History

Public festivals featuring fools and live performers date back centuries to medieval times in Europe. Jesters, minstrels, acrobats, and other novelty acts would gather and entertain at fairs and town celebrations. This carnival-esque tradition evolved over time to focus more on circus stunts, burlesque comedy, and clowning skits when traveling shows rose to prominence in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Modern circus and clown festivals that we still enjoy today first appeared in the early 20th century. For example, the International Clown Hall of Fame started holding an annual clowning event and induction in 1959 that continues today in Wisconsin. This popular concept lead to similar events popping up worldwide to deliver colorful parades, shows under-tent, street performers, contests, workshops, and more.

Variations and Types

Clowning and circus festivals take on different shapes, but often have similarities. Major international festivals, like the acclaimed Monte Carlo International Circus Festival founded in 1974, gather talent to compete and put on major arena shows. More intimate local festivals bring performers together to mingle and deliver interactive street shows and short skits for attendees.

Specific types of festivals include:

Clownfests

Celebrating clowning as a unique performing art with opportunities to test out new short skits. May feature clown parades, meet-and-greets, and contests.

Circus Festivals

Focused on the traditional circus arts like acrobatics, juggling, stunts, and magic. Features shows under a single tent venue.

Fringe Festivals

Counter-culture, avant-garde approach that embraces edgier or more risky clown and circus acts.

Significance

These lively festivals act as a mechanism to build community and social bonds for performers and fans of niche circus arts. They offer families a colorful event and preserve important cultural entertainment history for future generations. Festivals provide aspiring clowns and circus talents a venue to develop their skills through competitions, workshops, and networking.

Attending highly-anticipated annual festivals has become a beloved tradition for hardcore followers of clowning around the world. Festivals attract major corporate sponsors and television coverage to increase exposure of this classical art form. However, smaller local festivals deliver funding to schools, charities, and community programs through ticket sales and concession stands.

Key Techniques Featured

A diverse range of bizarre and dazzling skills may be witnessed at clowning and circus gatherings, depending on the focus. A few examples include:

• Juggling : From balls to chainsaws, traditional to unusual objects

• Tumbling / Ground Acrobatics : Somersaults, rolls, head balancing

• Aerial Arts : Trapeze, hoops, silks suspended in air

• Contortionist Bending : Extreme human body manipulation

• Clowning : Goofy skits, parody acts, satirical costumes and personas

The circus arts require great courage, physical discipline, timing, humor, and years of practice to perfect in order to wow festival crowds. Unique clown personas are created and evolved across regular gigging at such festivals worldwide.

Hopefully this overview gives you a sense of the meaningful role festivals play for clown and circus performers and fans!