Circostrada Network

27/05/2026

⏰ You have a few days left to take the State of Culture Barometer 2026 Survey!

This surveyfrom Culture Action Europe is an opportunity to highglight the key challenges and opportunities you are facing within the cultural sector in Europe, and how culture’s role and value are understood in national and European policies.

📢 Make sure the outdoor arts and contemporary circus sector's voices are heard!

Take the survey 👉 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdoRlnXQqL2YxOojD9BNJxGcY70XzSceafqRfkSdn9a4BM-pw/viewform

ARTCENA Creative Europe Ministère de la Culture

As Culture Action Europe prepares the second edition of our flagship publication, the State of Culture Report, we want to hear directly from those shaping the cultural and creative sectors today. Whether you are an artist, cultural manager, producer, curator, or director, working across architecture...

20/05/2026

✦SECTOR NEWS✦
[Performing Arts Coalition][Policy paper]

Cross-border collaboration in the arts is more needed than ever — yet access to funding for international collaboration continues to shrink.

🚨 In its latest policy paper, the Performing Arts Coalition calls for AgoraEU to become a key instrument to sustain and reimagine transnational cultural collaboration in today’s global context.

The survey highlights urgent challenges across the sector:
👉 78% of respondents find access to cross-border funding difficult or very difficult
👉 Limited funding and extremely high competition are the main barriers
👉 The sector needs more continuity, trust, long-term support, and space for experimentation
👉 Current application and evaluation systems require fundamental rethinking

A balanced and holistic funding approach is urgently needed to support meaningful international partnerships beyond short-term project cycles.

PAC is led by five performing arts networks - ASSITEJ International, Circostrada Network, European Dance Development Network, European Festivals Association (EFA), and IETM International network for contemporary performing arts who join forces to advocate for the sector's shared needs.

💡 Read the full findings and recommendations in the comments!

Creative Europe ARTCENA Ministère de la Culture

07/05/2026

⭐ Discover a SAIL supported project!

SAIL is Circostrada Network's grant programme to support their members in their advocacy efforts. Here is one below from Fira Trapezi Reus 👇

Since 1997, the city of Reus has hosted Trapezi, the Catalonia Circus Fair. Every May, the city’s streets and theatres are transformed into vibrant performance spaces, turning Reus into a large open-air circus ring. With a distinctive artistic identity open to diverse formats, aesthetics and approaches to circus arts, Trapezi has become a key meeting point for professionals, programmers and audiences.

This year, they move circus forward with an international roundtable: “Growth Strategies for Contemporary Circus” to share concrete development strategies with cultural, social and economic impact in their territories.

📍 Reus, Tarragona (Catalonia, Spain)
🗓️ May 13–17

Learn more 👉 https://www.trapezi.cat/en/activities-professionals
Discover SAIL 👉 https://www.circostrada.org/en/actions/sail-support-advocacy-influence-and-leverage



ARTCENA Creative Europe Ministère de la Culture

29/04/2026

🎉 Discover the artistic programme of Circostrada's Annual General Meeting 2026!

ARTCENA, Circostrada Network & Teatrul Național Radu Stanca Sibiu are delighted to invite you to Sibiu, Romania on 24-26 June, in the frame of FITS and Sibiu Performing Arts Market / Bursa de Spectacole de la Sibiu.

The programme of FITS is now available, go check it out now on their website! The theme for this year's edition is SOUL.
🎟️ Tickets for the indoor section will be available on Wednesday 6 May, and the outdoor shows are free and unticketed.

❓The General Meeting is the annual assembly of the Circostrada Network. This is a key moment where members come together to share experiences, discuss and engage in a festival and discover the local context of its host country, while participating in Circostrada internal committees.

Plan your trip now, and sign up before June 8!

Not a Circostrada member? You can join us on Thursday 25 June for a joint morning session with SIPAM and for an afternoon dedicate to Romanian and regional voices of the sector, or during the performances of FITS.


Creative Europe Ministère de la Culture

Tac O Tac FITS 2024 © Dragos Dumitru

24/04/2026

✦SECTOR NEWS✦
[Survey][Multidisciplinary]

📢 Contribute to the Creative Hubs Barometer!
💫 A creative hub is a physical space for creative & cultural professionals that offers the most effective way to support their growth, collaboration, interaction and development.

European Creative Hubs Network have just launched the annual Creative Hubs Barometer, a collective snapshot capturing insights on spaces, communities, programs, partnerships, and funding across Europe’s .

The survey takes about 20 minutes, and your input will directly contribute to a report that highlights the impact and value of creative hubs across the continent.

📊 The results will support advocacy, visibility, and growth, both locally and across Europe.

👉 Take the here: https://ow.ly/ALBZ50YNRnY

⏳ Deadline: April 30

ARTCENA Creative Europe Ministère de la Culture

23/04/2026

✦SECTOR NEWS✦
[LA NUIT DU CIRQUE]

📅La Nuit du Cirque returns on 13-14-15 November 2026! Check out the website: https://lanuitducirque.com/

🌙 La Nuit du Cirque is an international event initiated and organised by Territoires de Cirque bringing together hundreds of events across the world to celebrate the vitality of contemporary circus and increase visibility for the entire circus sector.

Open to all formats, from performances to workshops, screenings or more unexpected proposals, the event invites a wide range of contributors to take part in this collective moment.

⏳ Registrations are open until 31 May to be included in the official press kit, with the possibility to submit proposals afterwards.

Circostrada is a liaison organisation for the Nuit du Cirque, and will process applications from its members 👉 Get in touch!

© Dugudus - Théo Scheid

ARTCENA Ministère de la Culture Creative Europe

22/04/2026

✦SECTOR NEWS✦
[Call for papers][Multidisciplinary]

Discover the call for papers for the international conference “The Language of the Soul: Creativity, Theatre & the Art of Being Human", taking place at the opening of the FITS on 19-20 June! The conference is organised by Universitatea Lucian Blaga din Sibiu.

Contributors are especially encouraged to engage, in their proposals, with the work and artistic legacy of the creators honoured with stars on the Sibiu Walk of Fame. Contributions may include topics such as:
⭐ Creativity and artistic identity
🌍 Cultural management and the ecology of performing arts
💡 Practice-based research in theatre and performance
And others! Circostrada looks forward to hearing outdoor arts and contemporary circus perspectives during the conference.

Find all the details here 👉 https://conferences.ulbsibiu.ro/phdplatform/

DEADLINE TO APPLY: 1 May

Circostrada members, don't forget to register to the Circostrada Annual General Meeting taking place in Sibiu on 24-26 June! Link here 👉 https://www.circostrada.org/en/actions/annual-general-meeting-frame-fits-sibiu

ARTCENA Creative Europe Ministère de la Culture

20/04/2026

CROSSING VOICES: NEW EPISODE⚡

🎙️Listen to E2. S2: Cultural Roots & Traditions in Contemporary Circus from Taiwan to Sweden
➡️Link in comments!

In this episode, host Maaike Muis explores how circus is shaped by cultural context, tradition, and geography. From traditional techniques passed through generations to contemporary, dance-infused circus forms, the episode examines how diverse cultural conditions influence circus in Sweden and Taiwan.

Together with circus artists Amber Gibson (Taiwan) and Karoline Aamås (Sweden), Maaike discusses how artists navigate their roots while developing their own artistic voice. And they speak about the tensions and paradoxes that can arise in that process.

The episode reflects on how even within a shared art form, cultural frameworks deeply influence both creation and reception and yet at the same time that circus has the power to link these experiences.

ARTCENA Ministère de la Culture Creative Europe

02/04/2026

🎉 Registrations are open for the Circostrada 2026 Annual General Meeting!

ARTCENA, Circostrada Network & Teatrul Național Radu Stanca Sibiu are delighted to invite you to Sibiu, Romania on 24-26 June, in the frame of FITS and Sibiu Performing Arts Market / Bursa de Spectacole de la Sibiu.

❓The General Meeting is the annual assembly of the Circostrada Network. This is a key moment where members come together to share experiences, discuss and engage in a festival and discover the local context of its host country, while participating in Circostrada internal committees.

Plan your trip now, and sign up before June 8!
A limited number of travel grants are available.

Not a Circostrada member? You can join us on Thursday 25 June for a joint morning session with SIPAM and for an afternoon dedicate to Romanian and regional voices of the sector, or during the performances of FITS.

👉 Discover the programme, read the practical information, and register.
🔗 https://www.circostrada.org/en/actions/annual-general-meeting-frame-fits-sibiu


Creative Europe Ministère de la Culture

Tac O Tac FITS 2024 © Dragos Dumitru

01/04/2026

✦SECTOR NEWS✦
[Performing Arts Coalition][Survey]

Cross‑border collaboration is the lifeblood of performing arts — but what is its funding situation today, and what could it look like in the future?

The Performing Arts Coalition (PAC) invites artists, producers, managers and other professionals worldwide to share their experiences. Your input will inform a policy paper on the next EU funding programme for culture - AgoraEU (2028–2034) and provide evidence for policymakers at international, European, national and regional levels.

15–20 minutes. Anonymous. Open until Friday, 17 April.
➡️ Take the survey: https://ow.ly/hVNf50YBSeJ

PAC is led by five performing arts networks - ASSITEJ International, Circostrada Network, European Dance Development Network European Festivals Association (EFA), and IETM International network for contemporary performing arts - who join forces to advocate for the sector's shared needs.

Learn more about the PAC ➡️ https://www.circostrada.org/en/actions/performing-arts-coalition