COVID-19 Circus Event Cancellations - CircusTalk

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COVID-19 Circus Event Cancellations – Last Update: October 1st, 2020

This is an ongoing list of cancellations due to the COVID-19 virus that we are collecting from around the circus world and updating regularly. If you have a circus show, festival, or event that has been canceled or postponed, or have details about circus school closings, please share the information with us at [email protected] and we will post it here. Also, share your projected rebooking dates whenever possible.

When posting about cancellations on your event listing, on your Circus Talk profile wall or on wider social media, please use the hashtag #COVID19CircusResponse which we will also track and share on this page and our COVID-19 Resources page.

  • 3/12 Cirque du Soleil halts all touring productions.
  • *3/13 This article was modified to include the link to the Circus & Aerial Safety Groups latest document titled COVID-19 Updates and Precautions For Circus and Aerial Studios.
  • 3/13 Festival UP! announces the cancellation of the 2020 Festival that was just four days from launching, citing government mandates.
  • 3/13 NECCA in Vermont halts all classes for a two-week period effective immediately. Visit their Facebook page for updates. UPDATE: NECCA ProTrack canceled for the remainder of the year.
  • 3/14 Steven Santos announces changes to initial recommendations for sanitizing, stating: “Some of our previous recommendations for how to disinfect fabrics is seriously wrong. The draft has a chemical compatibility chart compiled from over 30 sources. DO NOT USE Isopropyl Alcohol on Nylon Fabrics, it can seriously degrade the strength of those fabrics! I just pull tested a sample. 2185 on the first sample. 873 on the one I soaked in Isopropyl Alcohol. These were off the same roll of brand new fabric.”
  • 3/14 Puerto Rico CircoFest is canceled.
  • 3/14 Circus 2020 Festival canceled.
  • 3/14 Yaron Lifschitz, founder of Circa posts on social media.
    “Many people get to see Circa people being heroically awesome on stage. But what I have witnessed in the last few days has been the equal of any performance. A team working around the globe and the clock, canceling shows, re-routing flights, managing risk, keeping people safe and informed all with great humour, authentic compassion and total clarity in deeply uncertain times. I am incredibly proud of everyone.I am also proud of the fact that at Circa we put our people first. All Circa artists and staff remain on full pay, regardless of cancelled tours and disrupted plans.”
  • 3/15 Circadium Circus School in Philadelphia cancels all in-person classes for a period of two weeks until March 30th.
  • 3/16 International Circus Festival Young Stage postponed date TBA in the fall 2020.
  • 3/17 NICA ceases operations at the behest of Swinburne University.
  • 3/17 – DOCH (Sweden) follows government recommendation that university programs move to distance learning and closes campus buildings, circus programs are transitioned to online format. Reassessment planned for April 3rd.
  • 3/18 Google document list of COVID-19 event cancellations that are affecting the Canadian live performance sector.
  • 3/19 Cirque du Soleil temporarily lays off 95% of its employees worldwide.
  • 3/19 The Why Not Fesitval of Clowning is postponed.
  • 3/20 Feld Entertainment cancels shows.
  • 3/23 Sesc Festclown 2020 in Brazil has been postponed.
  • 3/24 FLIC (Italy) Officially closed till April 3rd.
  • 3/24 SASAK (Finland): Closed until April 13th.
  • 3/24 Codarts (Netherlands): Closed until April 4th.
  • 3/24 Circomedia (UK): Closed until mid-April. Will re-evaluate after Easter Break.
  • 3/24 NICA (Australia): Closed until mid-April.
  • 3/24 ENC (Canada): Closed for two weeks, canceled end of year shows.
  • 3/24 ECQ (Canada): Closed for two weeks. Did their epreuve (graduation show) without an audience, but live-streamed it.
  • 3/24 Circo del Mundo (Chile): Closed for two weeks.
  • 3/24 2020 Wheel Gymnastics World Championships postponed until summer of 2021.
  • 3/25 Fédération Mondiale du Cirque World Circus Day April 18th canceled, possible reschedule in the fall.
  • 3/26 International Circus Festival Young Stage postponed until September.
  • 3/26 Circus & Invention: A research-creation seminar on apparatus, performance vocabulary and meaning in Montréal, Canada (originally June 26th to July 1oth) is canceled.
  • 3/28 73rd International Juggling Association Festival (IJA) (originally scheduled July 13-19) canceled with hopes to have online version.
  • 4/7 MONTRÉAL COMPLÈTEMENT CiRQUE (July 4-14) canceled.
  • 4/7 MICC – International Market of Contemporary Circus (Jul 6-9) cancelled.
  • 4/14 Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance (Boulder, CO) has cancelled all classes through April 30, 2020. Visit frequentflyers.org for updates.
  • 4/17 Circus Flora‘s 2020 season show The Trial of the Century originally scheduled  June 4-June 28 in Grand Center, will instead take place in June 2021.
  • 4/20 Cirkus Cirkör, has the following cancellations/postponments to announce:
    • Cancel/postpone the entire spring tour for Bloom
    • Cancel all educational activities/training in the Stockholm region that were planned up to mid-June.
    • Cancel the spring/summer tour for our family show Passa in (Fit in)
    • Postpone the Pippi Longstocking performance at Circus until 2021
    • Reschedule all planned circus residencies at Cirkör LAB
    • Temporarily stop the Daily Open Training for professional circus artists at the Cirkör House.
    • Most of this year’s planned events for Cirkör Event have been canceled and it is uncertain whether any events will take place. The Upper Secondary School (Cirkusgymnasiet) has implemented distance learning and Cirkör LAB has paused all artistic residencies until the autumn.
  • 4/24 Hand to Hand – A FringeArts Circus Festival (Philadelphia, PA, US) is officially canceling all of the events in their Circus Festival in June.

  • 5/19 SeaChange Arts Out There International Festival of Circus & Street Arts cancels. They will be issuing a call out for residencies and inviting artists to apply for a number of micro commissions in the next few weeks.
  • 6/15 Circus City Festival in Peru, Indiana, USA is canceled.
  • 6/22 Circuba 2020 International Summer Circus Festival postponed until June 2021.
  • 10/1 Le festival des Clowns de Montréal 1-4 Oct.
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