LEME, an innovative Portuguese arts festival, brings new forms of circus and expression to audiences around the Ílhavo municipality. The European Festival Association has given LEME its 2022-2023 EFFE Label, a stamp of quality given to remarkable festivals that show deep engagement in their community and in the greater field and world of arts.

Organized in partnership between Bússola and Ílhavo’s own 23 Milhas project, the LEME festival explores the new language of contemporary circus and gives the stage to unconventional art forms and multidisciplinary acts. An active transfiguration of the modern cultural landscape, LEME challenges traditional views of art by opening the doors instead to new approaches and challenging perspectives.

By awarding the festival an EFFE Label, the European Festival Association (EFA) distinguishes LEME for embedding itself deeply in the current artistic, cultural, and social realities of Europe. International experts evaluated the festival per the EFA’s list of quality standards, such as supporting ongoing artistic development; providing opportunities for innovative, up-and-coming artists to create and showcase their work; fostering connections within communities; working to make art widely accessible and attract diverse audiences; investing in innovation and capacity building; engaging with local audiences; and taking measures to be more sustainable.

The LEME festival first arose from the desires of a rapidly evolving arts sector. Local circus artists sought to build a “new space” of opportunity: somewhere that they could extend their artistry into new forms and languages, connect with their communities, and reach out to an international audience. Claiming the first week of December as this “space,” they created LEME as an arena that would transform community imaginings of the “circus.”

Initially a decentralized festival, LEME’s program has since evolved to make it a much broader project— one that intends to be more than a weekend trip. Using circus as a base language, the festival’s events fall under 5 distinct domains that bring the arts into new contexts, such as public development, open debate, and support systems for contemporary circus. Being a winter festival, LEME draws smaller audiences, and uses this fact to help build an intimate, intense experience that will bring audiences, artists, and professionals together. As well, the festival aims to be a meeting place for circus professionals in Portugal, opening that vision to international delegates.

From November 30 to December 4, 2022, LEME will present a special edition in Ílhavo, focusing on issues of diversity. This edition also includes a high-quality international professional programme, soon to be announced. Save the dates for another voyage on the high seas of contemporary circus.