BNCN Members' News Round - Spring 2026

Here you will find the current news and an introduction to the current activities from our members!

Finnish Youth Circus Association (FI)

FYCA this year is also having circus babies in their team! That also means that they are leaning back and just doing procedural things and not taking on extra projects.

The closest big event is the Nurtsi festival from the 8th to the 11th, in Oulu and is organised by FYCA, in co-operation with Oulun Tähtisirkus (local youth circus. Nurtsi is the biggest youth circus festival in the region. This time it is around half the size of the usual, because of resource cuts, but it will still be full of youthful energy. They are expecting around 200-250 circus youngsters to participate. The festival has one stage that hosts performances.

Active projects:

1. Family circus and Family parkour project. They have made a family circus card deck with 80-90 pictures and exercises for family circus. They are targeted towards circus schools but are also trying to sell them to regular people. In March, they hosted a family circus and parkour workshop. Also, tryout lessons, discussions about what it is and what it can give. Mirja Tuomi has made the pictures, but the cards are in Finnish.

2. For people with hearing disabilities. They are working on the methodology development and discussing whether it is most beneficial to integrate people with hearing disabilities into regular training groups, or separate them in designated classes that adjust the methods to their needs.

3. Rainbow diversity project - Tackles the question: How can we meet and reach people who relate to the LGBTQ+ community and show them that circus can also be for them?

Circus & Dance Finland (FI)

A national visibility campaign for circus

We are currently working on a visibility campaign for the circus sector, which will run until the end of September. The Sirkus tulee! (Circus is Coming!) campaign targets both the media and the wider audience in Finland, aiming to bring contemporary circus into the national spotlight. We produce news of the circus sector, organize a spectacular urban event in the heart of Helsinki in September, and host a pitch presentation showcase for Finnish venues.

Two new circus festivals launch in Finland

Two new circus festivals, in the city of Oulu in June and Helsinki in September, are organized collaboratively as joint initiatives by companies and artists.  

1. Circus Festival Ou, June 12–18, 2026,  features 11 shows, circus-themed films, and an exhibition.

2. The Helsinki Circus Festival, September 10–13, includes 13 circus productions ranging from artistic circus and high-energy acrobatics to family-friendly shows, comedy, and heavy metal, as well as two galas.

   
   

Read more in this article: https://circusdance.fi/en/two-new-circus-festivals-launch-in-finland-summer-highlights-for-circus-and-dance/

To read more news of the Finnish circus sector, please visit our newsroom at https://circusdance.fi/en/category/news/ 

Cirkus Folie (EST)

Circus Folie’s performance „InFluency“ has been selected for the Estonian Young Theatre Watchers Festival NAKS 2026. This is a significant achievement, as the festival traditionally focuses on theatre, making the inclusion of contemporary circus an important recognition for the art form.

  Folie students will also travel to Belgium for a 10-day youth exchange project and the CirkOOH! CirkAAH! Festival, where they will present their performance internationally. This opportunity is especially valuable for young artists, offering them experience of performing abroad and engaging with an international audience.

  In addition, Folie will host its annual „Strawberry Party“, marking the end of the season. The event provides all the students with the opportunity to showcase their skills and present their own acts in a supportive and celebratory environment.

  Looking ahead to autumn, Folie plans to introduce a new training methodology, continuing its commitment to growth and to the development of contemporary circus and circus education in Estonia.

Tallinn Fringe Festival (EST)

In 2026, Tallinn Fringe will have its 10th edition. It will be from the 18th of August to the 18th of September. It is the 4th time this festival has been this long. In 2025, they had 10’000 people come to the shows and events. All is happening indoors/outdoors: 200 shows, 5 indoor circus and 20 outdoor circus shows. The amount of circus is growing in the performances presented during Fringe.

They had Edinburgh Fringe organisers visit in November, and they were helping with local Estonian advocacy. Adelaide Fringe also came this year and helped with lobbying and advocacy. They are also matchmaking Estonian artists with the Edinburgh and Adelaide markets. Right now, they are working on pulling together the team from Tallinn municipality to bring them to Edinburgh, and they have been working on this for 3 years. 

The festival also continues to provide free educational sessions for all participants on budgeting, financing, promotion and marketing to make sure participants have the best experience and can achieve their goals. Free info sessions on what Tallinn Fringe is, how it is different to a usual festival and what are the benefits of being part of it are, are also available; just contact Dan to arrange this.

Tallinn Fringe also ran a longer 5-company pilot educational project last year, focusing on business skills for artists.

This has grown into the Creative Combinator that provides business skills trainings for creatives. Currently working with 2nd and 3rd year circus students at NCCA in London as well as with circus artists looking for career and business development support. 

Rīgas cirks (LV)

Rīgas cirks is having a particularly dynamic season this year, with performances taking place every month alongside an active residency programme. In addition to hosting guest performances, Rīgas cirks is also working on the Riga Circus School’s spring show and co-producing the Re Rīga! festival in August.

This year also marks the launch of a new contemporary dance programme, Dejas Māja (Dance House), at Rīgas cirks. The initiative aims to introduce contemporary dance alongside circus within the venue. As part of this programme, five dance performances will be presented with support from the Ministry of Culture.

Another important development is the introduction of Kids’ Mornings at Rīgas cirks. Five such events will be organised this year, aimed at engaging younger audiences. These will include not only performances, but also a range of activities and workshops for children.

Rīgas cirks has also received two significant grants, with activities set to begin in 2027:

1) a project focused on the social inclusion of people from third countries

2) a project aimed at improving the accessibility and availability of Rīgas cirks services across Riga and the regions, including a touring tent for regional outreach.

The most recent big event was the FEDEC conference. 15.-17th of April, 3rd ICCE, which had three parts:

1) FEDEC network meeting

2) open program - FEDEC Spring Talks

3) a program for kids, also a small pitch for circus education and universities.

The event's motto was " Roots and Routes - Pathways in Circus Education”. This event is a keystone also for circus education in an academic level, where there was a workshop to continue the discussion with the Latvian Academy of Culture to include circus in the higher education program. A memorandum was signed to confirm that it will take place.

Teatronas (LT)

Teatronas is working on a catalogue of contemporary circus and dance for Lithuania. It will be a physical print, and it is planned to send it to all cultural houses as a catalogue for possible shows. It will be a collection of finished productions. This is also made to balance the circus presence in the local cultural ecosystem.

The next BNCN members meeting will happen in  Cirkuliacija on the 17th and 19th of November. It will be the 10th edition of the festival, and they will also present the 4 circusnext laureate work-in-progress performances.

Big news about circus publishing -  Jean M. Guy’s book in Lithuanian will come out in the Summer. It has pushed the Lithuanian dictionary about circus, which is great!

Gildas Aleksa’s performance Šarūnas (by Teatronas) was nominated in the multidisciplinary category for the national Golden Stage Cross Awards. Although the production did not receive the award, Gildas was recognised by the Lithuanian Performing Arts Critics’ Association and received the “Meno raktas” [key of arts] award for his contribution to the promotion of contemporary circus and for organising the Cirkuliacija festival. 

This year, they are still doing circus lessons in Cirkosapiens at Arts Printing House and continuing with senior circus classes in Kaunas with Džiugas.

Arts Printing House (LT)

Arts Printing House is continuing with the three-directional strategy: contemporary circus, theatre for young audiences, street theatre - they have a festival every other year.

Contemporary circus festival Helium will happen from the 10th to the 20th of September 2026, with a focus on contemporary circus. Besides the international program, Helium will host two Lithuanian premieres - Saucisson by Taigi Cirkas and Šarūnas by Teatronas.

During Helium, there will also be an educational program for young audiences and professionals. 

Arts printing house is fundraising in order to get a grant to do renovations and adjustments to the building in order to host people with different abilities in a better way. 

Moreover, Arts Printing House has big news from the educational part: Pepco has given them a donation, which will allow Arts Printing House to organise free workshops for kids and teenagers from vulnerable social backgrounds.

DYNAMO (DK)

After 9 years, DYNAMO  finally have an in-house full-time technician! Great to have someone taking care of the sound and lights for the benefit of the residencies and performances.

They have applied for 3 Creative Europe Collaborative projects with Cirkus Syd, Berlin Circus Festival and Lumo Company.

They have been finalising their residency program. Figuring out how to fill the slots and not only have the structure of first-come, first-served. They have a lot of space, but they don’t have enough funding for accommodation, travel, etc. So they are trying to balance that. They are also finalising the artistic program for Autumn 2026 and Spring 2027.

DYNAMO is collaborating with the company Urban Goods to create a strategy for their festival that will happen in August 2027. They will begin booking and planning only when the future strategy is clearer.

Grand Danois - a touring production that collaborates with Dynamo, and they have been touring it last year and this coming summer in Denmark. They are slowly starting to think about international touring in 2027.

Odense municipality decided that all children have to experience performing arts, music and visual arts at least once a year. So now, every year, from Autumn 2026, they will have all the 6th graders in the Municipality of Odense coming to DYNAMO for circus performances. They had a little pilot project with Konstrukt from Cirkus Kolektiv, and the reaction was very positive.

They have an ongoing strategy of connecting music and circus - shows and concerts happening in relation. That brings new audiences to both of the art forms.

DYNAMO is still working on their project, Wild Money, which is an offer of their skills and facilitation in more corporate events. It is kicking off slowly, but steadily. It is an interesting challenge to enter a different environment, and hopefully it will work well.

Subtopia (SE)

Subtopia had the festival CirkusMania this February. They hosted 14 shows in 12 venues, most of them with artists educated or based in Sweden. The program consisted of performances that were either just very newly created, premiered in the festival, or were a work in progress.

For 2027, they are one of the organisers of FRESH CIRCUS 2027, an international conference organised by Circostrada, which will take place from 16th to 20th February. In its 6th edition, FRESH CIRCUS will take place in Stockholm and Botkyrka - for the first time in the north of Europe! - and co-organised by Subtopia, Riksteatern and Cirkuscentrum. The theme of the conference is “Circus as a force for collective futures”.

Subtopia, as a partner of Samovar Circles think-tank, is coordinating activities 2026-2028. They have just received a 2,5 year network funding from Nordic Culture Point to deep dive into the topics of site-specificity, placemaking, in situ, and community orientation in contemporary circus. There will be open online seminars and workshops, among other things. More info will come soon.