Municipal Measure

What is it?

The Cultural Department of the Generalitat of Catalonia, in collaboration with associations, has proposed implementing a second plan of specific actions aimed to improve and promote the cultural sectors of the performing arts (circus, dance, and theater), music, and visual arts in Catalonia. These Promotion Plans are programs of specific actions, with short time horizons and more specific priorities (compared to the previous Promotion Plans), and allocated budgets.

The 2nd Catalan Circus Promotion Plan, 2023-2026, is an initiative of the  Cultural Department of the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Catalonia Circus Professionals Association (APCC) with the collaboration of the Ramon Llull Institute (IRL), the Ateneu Popular 9 Barris, the Rogelio Rivel Circus Arts Center, the Circus Training Association of Catalonia (AFOCC), Fira Trapezi - Reus City Council, La Central of Circus, the Mercat de les Flors and the complicity of several municipalities, entities and performing arts facilities in Catalonia.

This Promotion Plan consists of 15 specific measures supported financially by two agencies of the Cultural Department: the Catalan Institute of Cultural Companies (ICEC) and the General Subdirectorate of Cultural Promotion and Libraries.

How was the Plan created?

The Association of Circus Professionals of Catalonia (APCC) coordinates the Circus Promotion Plan at the sectoral level and has facilitated its design and development through a participatory process. This process, open to the entire circus sector, began in spring 2022 with an assessment of the 1st Circus Promotion Plan 2019-2022 and continued with a sector-specific conference in autumn 2022, during which the actions to be carried out were agreed upon. From there, a driving force made up of organizations and individuals, following a call to action from the sector, has been developing these proposals into form, content, and budget, which will become the measures of the Second Circus Promotion Plan. This driving group, coordinated by the APCC and the various officials from the Cultural Department, monitors and evaluates the Plan.

Objectives

The objectives that have been established are:

• People = promoting circus creation, production, exhibition and training in conditions suitable for all professionals.
• Work = generating more opportunities by creating circuits, new venues, and facilities for company tours, as well as ensuring the presence and diversity of the circus throughout the country.
• Promotion = making the circus known, strengthening the projection of its projects, entities and sector in general.
• Companies = strengthen companies in the sector, understanding them as entities that unite and promote initiatives.
• Society = take advantage of the appeal and social, transformative, educational and communicative impact of the circus.
• Future = stimulate circus research, creativity and investigation.

The objectives of the second Circus Promotion Plan are to boost creation, production, and exhibition; generate circuits and guarantee the presence of the circus in all its diversity throughout the country; strengthen businesses in the sector; stimulate research and investigation; and take advantage of the circus's appeal and social, educational, and communicative impact.

More information

Municipal Measure

FiraTrapezi - Reus City Council and the APCC are managing one of the 15 measures included in the plan: the Municipalities measure, which aims to promote, support, dissemination, and knowledge about the circus among diverse cultural stakeholders and ensure the circulation of the full range of shows, circus formats, and venues.

The objectives of the measure are the following:

• Help to develop a new circus programming through festivals or cycles.
• Creating audiences for the circus by creating parallel activities to the programming in the municipalities.
• Bringing the organization of circus shows closer to small municipalities.
• Strengthen synergies between municipalities, creative centers, cultural enterprises, and circus artists.
• Promoting and exhibiting Catalan circus in places throughout the region where it has not been programmed. Breaking stereotypes about the circus image in these communities.
• Promoting the circus to unfamiliar audiences: creating audiences of different ages and geographical locations.
• Incorporating the circus into local and nearby festival programming.
• Circus programming lessons from municipal technicians: how to choose companies, venues, communication tools, etc.

More information on the APCC website (in catalan)

The measure will last three years and will involve a total of sixteen municipalities, seven in the first phase and nine in the second. Each of the phases is divided into two parts, which are specified below:

1. Sensitivity = with a training support program in circus for those responsible for programming.
2. Execution = with specific financial support for circus programming and carrying out, at least, one audience creation activity.

The calendar is specified below:

The selection of the participating municipalities has been carried out by the team in charge of the measure, taking advantage of its extensive background and experience in the sector. This fact has allowed us to detect the shortcomings and problems that municipalities have and to evaluate the opportunities. The selected municipalities are the following:

• Prats i Sansor = located in Cerdanya, where a small circus festival was launched a few years ago and which, with the right help and support, could take a leap in quality and take root in the region.
• La Seu d’Urgell = located in the Pyrenees that seeks to introduce large-scale Catalan circus into its programming.
• Corçà = located in Girona region, very close to la Bisbal d’Empordà, where the City Council's technical team has the intention to create a new cycle including four small surrounding villages.
• Santa Susanna = located in Maresme, aims to promote a new circus festival combining different exhibition spaces (tent, amphitheater, multipurpose hall, street).
• Vallromanes = it wants to recover the artist residencies, since a few years ago they had played an important role within the circus circuit.
• Sant Pere de Ribes = located in the Roquetas neighborhood, a highly complex neighborhood where, through the circus, it aims to work on aspects such as social cohesion and pedagogy.
• Horta de Sant Joan = located in the region of Terra Alta with a highly motivated governing team that is willing to start new artistic projects.

1st Part
Activities of sensitivity

The sensitivity activities (four in total) are a series of visits to circus-related centers or festivals, where talks, discussions, and debates are organized with the aim of exploring and enriching the way of looking. They are also included visits to the villages throughout the year to begin of thinking and designing the activities that they will carry out in the second year.

The sensitivity activities of this first part are:

• Trapezi Fair 2024 = to visit the Catalonia Circus Fair where you can attend the professional market where artists, programmers, distributors, administrations, and other stakeholders meet and also you can see the latest shows.
• Sreet Circus Fair of la Bisbal 2024 = to visit a very old circus fair, pushed forward by local organizations and volunteers with a high participatory spirit and well settled among the citizens.
• El Canal of Salt = to visit this Center for the Creation of Performing Arts located in Girona and Salt, which aims to promote local theatrical creation and production, as well as the creation of a performing arts community.
• Ateneu Popular of Nou Barris = to visit this public sociocultural center, characterized by its community management and founded by neighborhood residents in 1977. The 29th Winter Circus performance will be on display, along with a visit to the Rogelio Rivel Circus Arts Center, a training center since 1999.

2nd Part
Activities of execution

The execution activities can take various formats (cycle, fair, festival, performance, etc.) and circus companies will be hired that they will put into practice everything they have learned during the previous year.

The execution activities will be carried out throughout 2025.

The selection of the municipalities participating in this second phase is carried out through a public call. The selection is made by a committee composed of a member of Feria Trapezi - Reus City Council and a member of the Association of Circus Professionals of Catalonia (APCC), following the principles of equality, equity, and gender.

The selected municipalities are the following:

Consulta la convocatòria en PDF.

• Maçanet de la Selva = a town in the La Selva region that aims to bring contemporary circus closer to the public through the training of its cultural councilor.
• Les Planes d’Hostoles = a small town in La Garrocha that wants to promote the circus by hosting a new festival and promoting a series they call "Circus Afternoon in the Forest," which they have been holding for several years now.
• Sant Cebrià de Vallalta = a municipality located in Maresme, with a municipal team unfamiliar with the circus sector and a strong willingness to learn about it.
• Sant Pere de Riudebitlles = a town located in the Upper Panhandle, with a population of approximately 2,500, that aims to boost the circus industry in the region through an artist residency space, a rural creation space, and a circus school.
• Vilanova i la Geltrú = a municipality in the Garraf region, also boasting a municipal team largely unfamiliar with the circus sector and a willingness to continue its work over time.
• Oliana = a small town in Alto Urgel that doesn't have a regular circus program, but its cultural councilor is a huge fan.
• Sort = the town of Pallars Sobirá is home to the aerial school with the largest number of students in the province of Lérida and aims to continue supporting the circus industry in the region.
• Vilaplana = a town of about 500 inhabitants located in Bajo Campo that wants to take advantage of its proximity to the city where the Trapezi Fair is held and has already begun to invest in the sector by programming local circus artists for children.

1st Part
Activities of sensitivity

The awareness-raising activities continue to number four, and personalized visits to each municipality are also included to begin working on the following year's implementation activities and provide effective support.

These are:

• Can Gasol = visit this creation center in Maresme where you can see the creation processes of circus companies.
• Feria Trapezi 2025 = visit to discover the Catalan circus fair, not only the artistic side but also the professional side.
• Festival Circdanya 2025 = visit to a circus festival near the Pyrenees promoted by the public administration.
• Nilak 2025 = visit to the Nilak traveling circus tent, a project that aims to decentralize the performing arts from large urban centers and turn small towns into the epicenter of the arts.

2nd Part
Activities of execution

The execution activities have been planned and worked on over the past year, and now the time has come to put them into practice with the help of the team involved in the measure.

Execution activities will be carried out throughout 2026.

The organization and personnel responsible are:

• Organization
  Fira Trapezi - Reus City Council.
• Coordinator and proximity representative
  Pol Soler / [email protected].