News

For the Preservation and Strengthening of the Festival Landscape in Cologne, the Current Budget Discussions, and the Concept of the Depot

Festivals are an integral and indispensable part of Cologne’s arts and cultural scene, shaping the identity of the city as a European cultural metropolis, known for its diversity, openness, exchange, and international cooperation. The festivals in Cologne are characterized by a mix of local and international flair, diversity, and a wide range of artistic forms and formats.

Cologne’s festivals create cultural and meeting spaces for social discourse and human connection. They become part of the city’s community and public life, providing access to art and culture for a wide variety of audiences. The festivals program aesthetically and politically relevant performances from Germany and numerous other countries, bringing important impulses to Cologne. Through their high visibility in international co-productions, the Cologne festivals extend well beyond the city’s borders, shaping the unique Cologne arts and cultural landscape and carrying the reputation of Cologne as an international cultural metropolis to the world.

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

CircusDanceFestival in Cologne, May 16-20, 2024

For this year's CircusDanceFestival, under the theme "Re-Inventing Circus", we are looking for volunteers to help with set-up and dismantling, artist support, bar, box office and entrance. As part of the team, you will get a glimpse behind the scenes of the festival and have the opportunity to get up close and personal. Catering will be provided during your time on site.

More Information here.

We look forward to welcoming you!

From 16 - 20 May 2024, the CircusDanceFestival will once again open its doors on the Latibul site and make way for 5 days of contemporary circus, dance and performances. You can expect an exciting programme of discussions, concerts, performances and film evenings.
From the end of March, you will find the current programme here on our website.

CircusDanceFestival is happily announcing their new project. ArchiveLab is an artistic-reflexive research laboratory for dance and circus students and/or practitioners, especially Master's students. The laboratory will take place between May 13th and 18th 2024, in Cologne, in the frame of CircusDanceFestival, in collaboration with Deutsches Tanzarchiv Köln.

The ArchiveLab is led by Dr. Mirjam Hildbrand and Dr. des. Johanna Hilari, both Dramaturges and Dance/Theatre Researchers from Switzerland. They bring vast experience in interweaving methods and methodologies of critical theory with artistic practices and processes.

The Open Call you can find here.

We are looking forward to your application!