Aftermovie 2024

Circus Dance Festvial

CircusDanceFestival 2025 | June 6 - 8

Over Pentecost we celebrate the diversity of expression in contemporary circus, dance and performance in Cologne and take a creative and optimistic look at present day challenges. It will be poetic, thought-provoking, political and spectacular!

Open Call - until may 1st

60secondscircusfilm

An international competition for circus films with the duration of only one minute, initiated by DYNAMO Workspace and OFF – Odense International Film Festival in Denmark in 2023. Selected films will be showcased as a part of CircusDanceFestival, DYNAMO Circus Festival and OFF 2025 (Denmark).
Capture circus in 60 seconds, and you’re welcome to take part!

Deadline for submission 1st of May 2025
All info

Festival programme released

CircusDanceFestival 2025
June 6 - 8

Over Pentecost we celebrate again the diversity of forms of expression in contemporary circus, dance and performance and take an artistically resistant look at the challenges of the present. It will be poetic, thought-provoking, political and spectacular! Hope is not a state, but a practice – and so the festival celebrates the vitality of movement and artistic experimentation, focuses on the language of the body and creates space for encounters, contradiction and new perspectives.

Mélissa Guex brings a powerful performance to Cologne that reinterprets the collective “down” of our time. In “Ceramic Circus”, Julian Vogel attempts to make the impossible possible using circus techniques. In the daily changing open-air programme, international artists present their latest creations for the 360° stage, the Latibul Circus Garden opens its doors for families and the hand-picked film programme ranges from experimental to Arte-Cinema. At the European conference “Take Care”, we will focus on mental health and care, and the concert by the band “Crème Solaire” will be the latest call to dance in the early summer.
Welcome to the green Rhine floodplains at the CircusDanceFestival 2025!

To the programme
Festivalteaser

Support campaign launched

Support your CircusDanceFestival!

The CircusDanceFestival, one of the most progressive and diverse festivals for contemporary circus and dance in Germany, is facing financial challenges. Just before the program for its 6th edition is about to be announced, the CircusDanceFestival team feels compelled to go public with their current, concerning financial situation – and to reach out directly to their audience.

Read more

Conference: TAKE CARE - Circus life in a swing

A European conference on mental health and well-being in the circus and performing arts sector

A European conference on mental health and well-being in the circus and performing arts sector: The CircusDanceFestival hosts the kick-off event of the first-ever Creative Europe project dedicated to mental health and well-being in the circus arts sector, Take Care. The conference focuses on mental health, covering topics from working conditions and health habits to queerness. In terms of exploring the relationship between the individual and the collective, the goal is to connect physical, psychological, and ethical aspects, while creating an intergenerational dialogue. Come and learn together with us!

All information

Program highlights 2024

CDFthek

More

About Julian Vogel

Documentary by Filip Jacobson

About Tacho Tinta

Documentary by Filip Jacobson

Meet the Artists

Cherish Menzo, Benjamin Kahn & Chiara Caterina

Moderated by Afsun Moshiry
CircusDanceFestival 2022

(More than) Human? Staging Strategies in Contemporary Circus

Article by Franziska Trapp

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