Q & A

Here we have gathered common questions and answers about CirkusMania and this year’s festival.

CirkusMania is a festival celebrating circus as contemporary performing art. Over 10 days, 12 venues in the Stockholm region present 14 new genre-defying performances from the Swedish circus scene. CirkusMania is curated and coordinated by Subtopia in Botkyrka, in close collaboration with the participating venues.

The 7th edition of CirkusMania takes place 6-15 February 2026 at 12 venues in the Stockholm region. Read about all the venues by clicking “Festival venues” in the top menu.

Today, circus encompasses both traditional and contemporary expressions. When traditional circus disciplines are intertwined with other art forms into experimental explorations, with elements of performance-art, installation, or audience interaction, performances that can be placed in a context of contemporary art are created. Often, circus artists collaborate with musicians, visual artists, and directors to create interdisciplinary performances that push the boundaries of what circus can be. As in other contemporary art forms, the aim is to capture the present by reflecting, engaging, or provoking. Yet, exceptional physical skill, exploring of objects and risk remain fundamental to the art form, thereby allowing the circus to create its own symbolisms or, if you will, its own languages.

Do-it-yourself circus, stand-up circus, slow circus, and telepathic hybrid circus. Longing for water, chaotic folk music, electronic beats, drawing robots and an embracing whale skeleton. Juggling history, circus history, art history, nature history. Saying yes to everything, punkish playfulness, rose-tinted struggle, and a tribute to the imperfect.

CirkusMania’s 2026 program gives a panorama of newly created works reflecting the Swedish circus scene – right here, right now. 14 pieces that have premiered over the past year, some very recently, and a few that have not yet had their premiere. A recurring theme in this year’s program is the interplay between tradition and experimentation, while throughout the festival runs a thread of belief in human creative power and the capacity for change. Click around the festival website, and explore!

On this festival site, we present the different performances. Browse, click, read. Choose something that feels like a safe bet – or take the risk to experience something unexpected. In the worst case you spend one hour of your life wondering what on earth is going on; in the best case you will have a thought you have never had before.

Like all other art, a circus performance can be intended for an adult audience, or for young people, sometimes for children. Sometimes for adult audience, young people or children at the same time. In CirkusMania there are performances for audiences of all ages. On each performance page, there is an info box which tells you which ages group we recommend the performance for.

Many of the performances in CirkusMania are with no speaking at all. If there is speaking or text in a performance, information about this is given in the info box on the performance page.

Tickets are bought from the venue that presents the performance. You find links to ticket sales and info on each performance page here on this website.

No, we don´t sell festival passes. You buy separate tickets from each venue for the performances you wish to see. Ticket links can be found on the performance pages. The festival´´s venues differ in audience capacity, why a festival pass would not be able to guarantee seats for all performances. Instead, you buy tickets for the performances you want to see – and are therefor always guaranteed a seat. Some performances are for free, but you still need to book your spot.