Circus festival to pay tribute to Clowns Without Borders

The circus is coming to town, or rather, the circus is coming to the Montseny natural park, an hour outside Barcelona. The 9th edition of the Circ Cric festival will this year celebrate the 25th anniversary of Clowns Without Borders with a big party on May 19. The celebration will bring together many of the clowns who have worked with the humanitarian organisation that has performed to children affected by war since it was set up in Barcelona in 1993.

The circus festival, which is on every weekend between April 1 and July 1 in the town of Sant Esteve de Palautordera, in the Montseny area, has scheduled over a hundred performances by individual artists and companies, including the likes of Jango Edwards, Sílvia Pérez Cruz and Albert Pla. This year’s edition also includes the 5th edition of the International Clown Festival, with the participation of Argentine clown, Lila Monti, and four days of shows.

In paying tribute to Clowns Without Borders, this year’s Circ Cric festival will provide an overview of the organization’s international activities in the past quarter of a century on May 18, followed by a big celebration the next day with clowns who have worked with the association in the past. On that day, the festival will recreate some of the shows that Clowns Without Borders have put on to entertain children in many of the world’s war zones.

Since 1993, Clowns Without Borders, known locally as Pallassos Sense Fronteres, has worked to bring smiles to the faces of war victims. The organization’s first show took place in Veli Jože (in present-day Croatia) during the conflict in the Balkans, and it has gone on to give over 7,000 performances in almost 100 countries, performing to more than two million people affected by war and natural disasters around the world.  

Apart from plenty of circus performances, this year’s Circ Cric festival will also feature music concerts by Catalan artists, such as Sílvia Pérez Cruz, on April 7, and Albert Pla, on May 11. Also performing in concert will be former Txarango band member, Marcel Lázara 'Tito' with Júlia Arrey, on June 29.