Circus Dance Festvial

After the Festival

Full of new impressions and moments, we leave for the summer break. Many thanks to everyone who made this wonderful festival possible once again.

Here you can browse through the 2024 programme again.
For a few visual impressions, take a look at our archive.
The CDFthek is also happy to provide you with exciting input on the topics of contemporary circus and dance, e.g. with films, talks or articles.

See you next time!

Once a year, the Cologne Cultural Council awards the Cologne Culture Prize. On May 14th, the award ceremony took place for the 14th time, where Cologne's creative artists are honoured for their commitment and work. This year, the prize in the category "Young Initiative" went to the CircusDanceFestival. We are happy and grateful for this honour and the attention given to contemporary circus in Cologne's cultural landscape. One day before the opening of this year's festival, this was a great start to the festival days and a great appreciation of our work. Thank you very much!

A big thank you goes to the entire festival team, our cooperation partners, the sponsors, the Cologne Cultural Council, the artists who bring the festival to life and everyone who is committed to and enthusiastic about contemporary circus.

We congratulate all the winners and nominees of the evening for their great work and are proud to be part of this diverse scene.

„Re-Inventing Circus“
Contemporary Circus between heritage and renewal

Under the title "Re-Inventing Circus", the Cologne CircusDanceFestival dedicates its current festival edition to contemporary circus between heritage and renewal and discusses the understanding of circus in terms of tradition and experimentation. From 16 to 20 May 2024, internationally outstanding works of contemporary circus will be shown open air on the LATIBUL site, directly on the banks of the Rhine in the north of Cologne. Under others, the two German premieres "Glorious Bodies" by the company Circumstances by Belgian circus artist and choreographer Piet Van Dycke and "A spectacle of herself" by British circus performer Laura Murphy, as well as "Blueprint", the new creation by the hosting company Overhead Project from Cologne. There will also be a film programme in the open-air cinema with the support of ARTE, daily free concerts and an evening discussion programme. On Whit Sunday, the "LATIBUL CircusGarden" will be held for the first time - a day for the whole family by and with the LATIBUL team. The complete programme of the CircusDanceFestival 2024 is now available on the festival website. Ticket sales have started and are available here and at Rausgegangen.

Here you find the program

Dear guests of CircusDanceFestival,

For more than ten years, artists from Cologne have set out to establish the new circus as an interdisciplinary, contemporary art form in Germany. Since then, Cologne has been one of the nuclei of the renewal of the circus genre and has contributed to the fact that progressive circus forms in the production and performance centres throughout Germany are now among the most innovative stage productions in the performing arts.
One of the driving forces behind this development is undoubtedly the CircusDanceFestival, created by the Cologne-based group Overhead Project, which has now caused a sensation for the third time with its unique combination of contemporary circus and dance, presenting exciting new stage art to audiences.
Many thanks to the festival organisers for their great commitment and passionate realisation of this extraordinary cultural event!
I wish you inspiring and eventful festival days!

Henriette Reker
Lord Mayor of the City of Cologne