Programme
March 02 - March 04
Festival Performance
Open to the public
February 28 - March 02
Workshop
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Conferences
Open to circus artists and experts
March 01
Market Place
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Site Specific Performances
Open to circus experts (Upon invitation)
Performers ACAF 2018 :: 2nd Edition & ACAF 2015 :: 1st Edition
Festival
In 2015, Fekat Circus organised the First African Circus Festival. The Festival was a unique event because for the first time 107 African circus artists met and performed on an African stage. Eight social circuses had been selected: ActionArte (South Africa), L’Aléa des possibles (Madagascar), Circus Zambia (Zambia), Debre Berhan Circus (Ethiopia), Fekat Circus (Ethiopia), Red Tomato (Egypt), Sencirk (Senegal).
This was made possible thanks to the trust and support given by UNESCO’s International Fund for the Promotion of Culture, the Prince Claus Fund, Fondazione Alta Mane and a few others. The Festival was attended by over 12,000 people from all social classes, from ambassadors to street children, over three days of exhilarating performances in a public space in the heart of the Ethiopian capital, with no entrance fee attached. Following the Festival, two days workshops and meetings were held to further stimulate and promote exchanges among the artists and among the managers.
The African Circus Arts Festival aims at:
Drawing attention to the circus arts in Africa;
Empowering young African circus performers so that they can maintain their impact in their communities;
Promoting cultural exchanges among circus companies within the African continent;
Stimulating the development of a circus market within Africa.
The second edition of the African Circus Arts Festival will take place from February 28 – March 04 in Ethiopia, thanks to the support of the European Commission.
What does the Festival offer?
A large audience (12,000 people in 2015)
The opportunity to perform on the main African circus stage
Meeting over 100 circus performers from all over the continent
Sharing experiences and learning from other circuses
Connecting with international experts from the circus sector over a two-day meeting
Visibility for your circus through the Festival’s communication media and actions (website, social media, media)
The Festival will cover all the travel expenses (including flight tickets, travel insurance, visa fees, accommodation, food and drinks)
We are sorry the Festival will not be able to provide fees for the performing teams.
The African Circus Arts Festival hopes to move all over the continent in the years to come.
Press RELEASE
Organizer
Fekat Circus was created in 2004 by young Ethiopian jugglers and acrobats with a passion for circus.
Fekat Circus today is a creative free space, a performing troupe, and a joy spreading team of animators.
Fekat Circus is located in the historical center of the capital. Beside performing in Ethiopia and internationally,
Fekat runs the main circus school with a yearly attendance of about 100 trainees; it organizes daily
circus trainings and workshops in orphanages, street children rehabilitation projects, reaching over 450
children per year; it provides daily entertaining activities in the paediatric ward of the Black Lion Hospital;
it conducts circus-theatre performances addressing social and health issues all over the country; and it animates private parties.
Fekat Circus also undertakes regular exchange programs with international artists, and organises
the African Circus Arts Festival.
Sponsors
