Next Door Circus Magazine Next Door Circus Magazine #2 | Page 44

eling that often adults and elderly people
are not invited to take a part. This was not
at all my experience at Auch. People of all
ages worked together.

by the festival. With the goal of add social
value and encouraging artistic education,
CIRCa invites around 600 pupils and their
teachers to watch the shows, participate
in workshops, and meet with artists.
Different activities where proposed as
well to spectators with children. In total
435 children starting from the age of 3
participated in circus workshops. These
actions are a very strong part of a strategic effort often seen in France to prepare
future audience by encouraging young
people discover the arts.

During my stay, I was hosted by a very
nice lady in her early 60s named Martine
Gallet. Martine was volunteering for the
festival for the second year in the row,
hosting producers and journalists at her
house, and working in the festival boutiquel.

Martine: “I was a stranger to this artistic side of
things before, so it has
been a rewarding and
undertaking experience
for me. It was a real
exchange of emotions in
a very simple and convivial ambiance.
Volunteering has allowed
me to experience the circus world in its various
facets.”

These actions are a very
strong part of a strategic
effort often seen in
France to prepare future
audience by encouraging
young people to discover
the arts.
CIRCa started as a meeting point for circus schools and universities, and still fills
this role, even if the professional program
has taken over the festival. This year CIRCa
even added a day for specialized circus
high schools, during which students from
5 schools could not only enjoy the shows,
but participate in meetings with artists
and follow the workshops. This openess
to young people interested in circus has a
practical side as well. It offers them a rare
occasion to see the presentations of different circus universities, helpful to making
their choices for future studies.

I had the chance to meet her friends,
most of them recently retired, a few taking holidays in order to be able to volunteer. Marine shared her thoughts about
the volunteering experience with me: “I
was a stranger to this artistic side before,
so it has been a rewarding and undertaking experience for me. I met a lot of
different kinds of people from different
places with different professions and we
discovered a magical world full of colour.
There was a lot of sharing, a real exchange of emotions in a very simple and convivial ambiance. Volunteering has allowed
me to experience the circus world and its
various facets.”

Festival : a place to mingle
There is something special about the
whole ambiance in CIRCa. The festival’s
central area has several bars, restaurants
and open spaces where you can hang
around and talk to people. It feels like the
festival’s spirit is everywhere, and that it is
a celebration for everyone. It is not only
about seeing shows, or participating in
workshops or even doing anything that
you can find in the festival’s official program. It is about having a place and time
for a social encounter, where everyone is
free to do what he feels like. ///

Circus in society
It’s not possible to talk about the social
benefits of the festival that without mentioning the cultural activities produced

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CIRCa, photo by Rainer Itner (c)