The 10th edition of the Circusstad Festival turned out big
An edition worthy of an anniversary par excellence. That was it's 10e Circusstad Festival (in 14 years, since 2010) from May 3 to 7, 2023. It was thrilling even before the festival started. Once again a visitor record has been broken: 35,000 people (last year 32,450).
In 2023, more people once again enjoyed world-class circus theater. No fewer than 9,000 people bought a ticket for a paid performance, an increase of 20% compared to 2022.
Gift to Rotterdam
The exciting run-up to the anniversary edition was due to a special meeting on King's Day in Rotterdam and the gift of the 10e Circusstad Festival in the city. Circusstad Festival was in the queue for years, but during the 10e edition, the world-renowned and much sought-after Compagnie XY had the opportunity to perform in Rotterdam with the participatory circus experience 'Les Voyages'. A week before the festival started, 19 black-clad, always silent, but sympathetic acrobats amazed residents of the IJsselmonde district with very personal acrobatics, with residents often participating in the human towers. But first, on King's Day, April 27, in Rotterdam, the royal party walked under the human triumphal arches of Company XY in front of the NOS camera. The Circusstad Festival also received a lot of media attention a week later.
On the eve of the festival, on May 2, Compagnie This performance on the square in front of Podium Islemunda was also the impressive and moving festival opening.
Before: City Parade
Just like every year, there was the City Parade: in the 6 weeks before the festival, schools and royal markets were visited and were graced by more than 50 performances by small circus companies. This year, for the first time, 12 nursing homes for the elderly were visited. The performance of the beautiful white clown Pierre Roman (Ralph Öllinger), made especially for this audience, made a big impression.
New: Katendrecht
New during the anniversary edition was the fully-fledged second festival location on Katendrecht. The well-attended, crazy and spectacular family show 'Bruits de Coulisses' was performed on the Deliplein and on the Dolf Henkesplein visitors could try out the flying trapeze of the Fantastic Flying Fuegos. In addition, in Theater Walhalla and Fenix 1 (at Circus Rotjeknor and Codarts Circus Arts) numerous performances by the new generation of circus makers.
Festival heart Schouwburgplein
As always, the heart of the festival was the freely accessible Schouwburgplein with performances on site and around it in the old Luxor Theater, Theater Rotterdam and the Doelen. In the pleasantly mixed audience of all ages and backgrounds, it was mainly children who practiced circus tricks under supervision between performances. Big draws on the square were the consistently sold-out Siegfried & Joy, who performed for the first time in the Netherlands with 'Las Vegas in Rotterdam'. They usually perform in halls of 5,000 people, but for their first performance in the Netherlands they deliberately chose a small, intimate circus tent. The Ghent freerunners of Be Flat also packed their tent on the Schouwburgplein with the explosive 'Double You'.
Queer night
There were many highlights, such as the juggling tour 'Square 10' in Theater Rotterdam by the 10-year-old Rotterdam Tall Tales Company, acrobats on a revolving house in 'EXIT' and the astonishing 'Materia' by the Italian object manipulator Andrea Salustri with styrofoam. The most impressive for many visitors was the breathtakingly beautiful 'Möbius' by the aforementioned Compagnie homosexual Muslim love on the Chinese pole. This last performance was part of the 'queer night' on Friday evening, together with drag circus from House of Circus in the old Luxor Theater and a memorable afterparty in Theater Rotterdam with, among others, the sexy hula hoop queen Alexandra Malter.
Babies, the elderly, the visually impaired
Two performances ('Double You' by Be Flat and 'Exit' by Circumstances) could also be visited by visually impaired people. The audience was also expanded to include babies for the first time, in the performance 'Be Kind' by Emilie Weisse Circustheater. In addition to the elderly, residents of IJsselmonde and the visually impaired, small people from 6 to 18 months and their parents were now also guests. After all, everyone should be welcome at Circusstad Rotterdam.
Circusstad Gala returns
Artistic director Menno van Dyke and business manager Dirk Evers look back on this successful anniversary edition with great satisfaction. Once again the festival showed the enormous variety that contemporary circus has to offer. Last year, Van Dyke introduced the acclaimed first edition of the Circusstad Gala in the Luxor Theater. “We'll make that a tradition,” he promises. 'Next year the Circusstad Gala will be back in all its glory'.
© photo: JONA HARNISCHMACHER
