International groups to participate in the Palestine Circus Festival

Palestine Circus Festival will be held this year under the title "United for Freedom", which will take place from September 27 until October 6. International circus teams from France, Britain, Chile and Argentina are going to participate in the festival that will include more than 12 performances touring more than 32 locations in Jerusalem, Ramallah, al-Bireh, Nablus, Hebron, Bethlehem, Jenin, Tulkarm, and Birzeit in the West Bank, along with the Gaza Strip and the refugee camps and Amman, Jordan.

The festival, organized by the Palestine Circus School and the Nablus Circus School, “represents a unique entertainment outlet and an inclusive and diverse cultural forum in Palestine,” said a media press release.

It “aims at strengthening the social and physical creativity of Palestinians and to unite their talents with international groups under the circus arts and to integrate and enable them to become active members in order to highlight Palestinian identity and culture,” said the release.

The festival is held with the support of the European Union, Sweden's Development Cooperation in Palestine and the Swiss Foundation “Drosos”. The main sponsor for this festival is Jawwal; media sponsor Raya FM radio and advertising sponsor Sky Advertising.

Palestine Circus School, a non-profit organization, was founded in Ramallah in 2006 to teach and develop circus arts in Palestine. The school annually trains more than 230 students. Eight circus performances have been produced in 12 years for more than 108,000 audiences locally and abroad.