FAQ

Good question. Festival Circolo is the biggest circus festival in the Netherlands. From 13 to 22 October, we present ten days of circus of the highest level. The heart of the festival is located in Tilburg’s Spoorpark There you’ll find several circus tents, food trucks, playgrounds and an outdoor stage where daily free circus performances can be seen. There are also performances at other locations in the city.

Contemporary circus is difficult to capture in a single word. It is a love child of circus, theatre, dance, music, design, visual arts and everything that is fantasised about. That can be: circus and drag, circus and illusionism but also circus and kung fu. Anything is possible… well, almost anything. In the contemporary circus, there is no room for classical clowns between various separate acts. Because we know that trick already. We prefer to focus on the story, the characters and the form. And not to forget the life-threatening tricks, breathtaking stunts and incredible body movements. Because we won’t change a thing about that recipe for success.

Festival Circolo is closely monitoring the development of the corona virus. Indien de situatie daar om vraagt worden passende maatregelen genomen aan de hand van de protocollen die door de culturele sector zijn ontwikkeld. This can range from hygiene measures to keeping your distance. Ticket buyers will receive information in a service email prior to the performance if any special measures need to be taken. Should performances be cancelled, ticket buyers will receive a refund.

If you have a negative experience in connection with nuisance, an unsafe situation on the festival grounds, improper treatment or otherwise, please report this via an email to info@festivalcircolo.nl

Briefly describe the problem or situation and include your name and phone number. We will contact you a.s.a.p. to talk over the situation and discuss a solution.

Of course we will treat your data and information confidentially and use it to implement improvements in the organization and/or festival design.

13 October 15:00 – 00:00
14 to 19 October 13:00 – 00:00
20 & 21 October 13:00 – 01:00
22 October 13:00 – 21:00

Entrance to the festival site in Spoorpark is open until 23:00.

The festival heart of Festival Circolo is located in Tilburg’s Spoorpark. The festival grounds are free of charge for visitors. In addition, we show program at multiple locations throughout the city.

The map gives a good overview of all the different locations.

The Festival Circolo festival grounds in the Spoorpark are free to enter. To attend a performance you buy a separate ticket. In addition, there are pass-partouts or combination tickets available for visitors who wish to visit for several days.

Please note that the passe-partout applies to the performances of the main program; not the attractions.

For overnight stays in the city, you are more than welcome at Stadscamping Tilburg, located right next to the festival site. Rather sleep in a hotel? Then check out Stadsvilla Tilburg, Mercure Hotel or Van Der Valk Tilburg.

Tickets for performances can be purchased online or at the box office at the Spoorpark. No tickets will be sold at downtown satellite locations.

Tickets for the caterpillar and swing boats can be purchased directly at the attraction.

13 October 15:00 – 21:00
14 to 20 October 13:00 – 21:00
21 October 13:00 – 18:30

Festival Circolo is completely cashless. You can pay with your debit or credit card. Tickets for performances are available online or at our box office during the festival.

Glad you are coming to Circolo and have already bought tickets. You now ask whether you can use a discount scheme received later with retroactive effect. Unfortunately, this is not possible. It is just like in the supermarket that products always go on sale just after you have already bought them yourself. You can, of course, use the coupon to buy tickets for other performances.

The full programme can be read as an overview in the timetable. Would you prefer to see all programme elements separately? Then check out the programme page.

The Festival Circolo festival grounds are free to enter. There you can watch the free daily performances in the Spoorpark by students of Circus and Performance Art. In addition, there are free workshops you can participate in.

At Festival Circolo, not every performance is suitable for everyone. On the program page, you will find an age designation for each performance. Pay close attention to that. Most performances last one (small) hour. For very young children, this is often too long. We do not recommend bringing children under the age of 4 to the performances at Festival Circolo.

At Festival Circolo, there are no cultural or language barriers. All performances have the label ‘language no problem’. Circus is a universal language that is told with the body. Some performances have spoken text, but you do not have to be able to understand this in order to follow the story. In addition, the text is available on paper or is projected during the performance.

Festival Circolo is also there for people with impaired hearing. There are a few performances with text, but this is often limited. Usually, the text is available on paper or is projected during the performance. If the text is an important part of the performance, we use a sign language interpreter and/or a written language interpreter.

Contemporary circus is for everyone. To fulfil this promise, we like to lower all imaginable thresholds. Sometimes very literally. For example, Festival Circolo is easily accessible for people with physical disabilities. On the festival site, the disabled toilets can be accessed via a ramp and almost all performances are accessible with a wheelchair or assistance dog. Please let us know that you are coming. Then we will reserve a nice spot in the tent with a good view. Send an email to tickets@festivalcircolo.nl.

Can you experience the circus feeling if you are visually impaired? Yes you can! If a blind interpreter from ‘Komt het Zien’ is present, you can really experience everything. Even if you see little or nothing.

The performance Low Cost Paradise by Cirque Pardi! on Sunday October 22 can be experienced with live audio description.

How does it work?
A blind interpreter describes what is happening. The interpreter reports live, just like a sports journalist on the radio. The blind or visually impaired visitor is seated in the gallery and can hear the interpreter’s extra information via a wireless headset.

These performances are preceded by a special introduction with ‘meet & feel’. Here, the location, costumes and scenery are described, props can be seen and felt up close and the actors can be introduced. Sensing is, of course, subject to the corona measures in place at the time.

Experiences:
“I can’t see a thing and yet I saw everything! ”
“The blind interpreter lent his eyes to me for a while.”
“We used to go to the circus with the whole family, but only now have I seen circus for the first time.”

Do you know someone who is partially sighted or blind? Go out together! Order a ticket ‘with audio description’ so that we know you are coming.

Komt het Zien! is a foundation that makes theater experiences possible for audiences with visual impairments:www.komthetzien.nl.

Youth discount
In the increasingly expensive world, we like to lend a helping hand to the younger generation. After all, youth has the future. We like to impart our love of circus to adolescents, students and those starting out in the job market. Therefore, everyone up to 26 years old gets 50% discount on a ticket for a performance.

Tight budget?
We believe that everyone should be able to enjoy all the beauty that circus has to offer; also people who have a little less to spend. Therefore, there is a daily offer of free-to-attend performances. Moreover, it is possible to pay with the Meedoenregeling. Free tickets will also be distributed to people and families living in silent poverty in collaboration with Quiet Community and the Voedselbank. These tickets are partly made possible by donations visitors can make when buying a ticket.