Name

Circusful

Legal name

Circusful

Website

https://circusful.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Circus Arts Education

NAICS

Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries (711), Other Amusement and Recreation Industries (7139)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Circus & Physical Theatre (MPAGABAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Circus, Magic & Variety Shows (THAJAFAH), Community Parades, Carnivals & Street Fairs (MPAGAEAE)

Keywords

• Circus arts education
• Youth circus training
• Social circus programmes
• Aerial arts classes
• Community circus workshops

Headquarters

HQ city

Belfast

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Class Fees and Memberships: Revenue from weekly circus classes for youth, adults, and community training sessions. Classes are booked through PushPress platform with membership options and class credit packages.
2. Outreach Workshop Fees: Circusful's team of expert tutors deliver outreach programmes to schools, youth clubs, and community organisations for fees. Workshops are tailored to group needs and can be long-term weekly programmes, medium-term, or one-off events.
3. Professional Performance Agency: Circusful's professional performance agency arm provides freelance artists with paid gigs for corporate and community events across Ireland and beyond. The agency connects performers with event clients.
4. Merchandise Sales: Sale of Circusful branded merchandise including t-shirts, hoodies, and tote bags through the online shop.
5. Donations and Charitable Funding: As a registered charity (Charity Number 100116), Circusful receives donations and operates with Gift Aid support from UK tax payers. The charity also receives grants from Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Foyle Foundation, and other funders.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Circusful is a registered charity that delivers weekly circus arts classes for children (ages 2–19) and adults, runs outreach workshops for schools and community organisations, operates a professional performance agency booking circus artists for events, and produces the annual Festival of Fools. All activity is anchored at a 9.8-metre purpose-built circus facility in Belfast's Cathedral Quarter, supported by charitable grants, donations, and earned income from classes, agency fees, and merchandise.

Product overview

Circusful is a community circus organisation offering a comprehensive portfolio of circus arts services. The core offering consists of structured weekly classes across three programmes: Itty Bitty Circus (ages 2-7), Youth Circus (ages 8-19), and Adult Circus classes covering aerial, juggling, acrobatics and fitness disciplines. Complementary services include outreach workshops delivered to community partners, a professional artist booking agency representing over 60 performers for events, artist support services including space hire and residencies, the annual Festival of Fools festival, public events and performances, branded merchandise, and a charitable donations programme. The organisation operates from a purpose-built facility in Belfast's Cathedral Quarter.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Festival of Fools: An annual circus and street theatre festival held every May Day Bank Holiday since 2004, bringing top circus acts to Belfast from around the globe. Described as a separate legal entity — a registered charity and company limited by guarantee — but intimately connected to Circusful.

Products and services

• Itty Bitty and Youth Circus Classes Weekly term-time circus skills classes for children and young people aged 2–19 covering juggling, acrobatics, aerial silks, trapeze, unicycling, and plate-spinning, plus summer schemes such as the £40/week Itty Bitty programme (ages 2–7) and £150/week 8–11 Youth Circus scheme.
• Adult Circus Classes Weekly circus skills and fitness classes for adults covering aerial verticals, aerial straps, dance trapeze, circus skills, bungee fitness, beginners aerial, and community training, with class credit packages (1-credit or discounted 4-credit bundles) and term memberships.
• Outreach Programmes Commissioned circus workshops delivered by Circusful's expert tutors at schools, youth clubs, community organisations, disability groups, and care organisations across Northern Ireland, covering stilt-walking, juggling, acrobatics, plate-spinning, tight-wire, diabolo, and devil sticks, with content tailored to the partner group's needs.
• Professional Artist Booking (Book an Act) Professional performance agency service connecting clients with circus artists (representing 70+ performers) for corporate events, festivals, community celebrations, and private bookings across Ireland and beyond.
• Events and Performances Organised public events including scratch nights, cabarets, youth shows, festival appearances, and community performances showcasing circus skills and performers.
• Artist Support Services Support services for professional and developing circus artists, including independent training access, residencies, space hire, and the Mike Moloney Award for Young People in Circus for artists aged 16–30.
• Festival of Fools Annual circus and street theatre festival held every May Day Bank Holiday in Belfast, bringing top circus acts from around the globe; operates as a separate registered charity and company limited by guarantee that is intimately connected to Circusful.
• Space Hire and Residencies Booking of Circusful's purpose-built circus facility in Belfast's Cathedral Quarter, including training space, performance space, and residencies for circus artists, with step-free access and accessible facilities.
• Circusful Merchandise Branded Circusful merchandise including t-shirts (from £9.00), hoodies (from £22.00), and tote bags (£5.00), with limited-edition 40th Birthday items designed by performer Emmen Donnelly, sold online.

Quantifiable outcome

• Young people demonstrate improved ability to focus and listen, increased resilience accepting failure as part of learning, enhanced self-esteem for public performances, and enthusiasm for physical activity

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Belfast Metropolitan CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Belfast Met inclusion and disability unit. Circusful delivers bespoke programmes including working with wheelchair users who have learned to walk on tightwire.
• VOYPIC (Voice of Young People in Care)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSocial circus programmes with home-to-project transport for young people in care. Bespoke provision showing Circusful's flexibility to adapt to participant needs.
• South Eastern Health and Social Care TrustminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealth and social care trust partnership for delivery of circus-based health and wellbeing programmes.
• Barnardo's NI Fostering TeamminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Barnardo's fostering team to deliver social circus programmes for looked-after children and young people.
• Festival of FoolscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIntimately connected to Circusful though a separate legal entity and registered charity. Founded by former Circusful director Will Chamberlain in 2004. Provides platform for Youth Circus members to perform alongside international acts. Held every May Day Bank Holiday.
• CARAVAN (International Social Circus Network)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational network of social circus organisations. Circusful has been instrumental in developing CARAVAN alongside international partners including In Your Space Circus Derry, Galway Community Circus School, and circus schools across Europe, USA, and Australia.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Circomedia: Bristol-based centre for circus arts and physical theatre offering part-time and full-time professional training, plus youth and adult classes. Closest UK comparability for Circusful's combined training-plus-community programming model.
• National Centre for Circus Arts: London-based circus school (formerly known as the National Centre for Circus Arts / The Circus Space) delivering degree-level professional training alongside youth and adult classes. Direct benchmark for Circusful's training mission and curriculum depth in a UK context.
• In Your Space Circus: Derry-based social circus organisation running community-focused training and outreach programmes. Another CARAVAN network member with a near-identical operating model to Circusful, serving the other half of Northern Ireland's two main cities.
• Galway Community Circus School: Republic of Ireland social circus school operating youth, adult and community programmes from a dedicated facility in Galway. Co-developer within the CARAVAN International Social Circus Network alongside Circusful and the closest like-for-like peer on the island of Ireland.

Regional players

• Flipside Circus: Brisbane-based youth circus social enterprise delivering training and community programmes under a similar non-profit / social-enterprise model. Useful international benchmark for Circusful's class-segment economics and outreach scale.
• The Circus Project: Vancouver-based social circus non-profit using circus as a tool for youth empowerment and community development. Structurally comparable non-profit with training, outreach and performance activity paralleling Circusful's social-circus methodology.

Broad incumbents

• École Nationale de Cirque: Government-funded Montreal circus training institution with a much broader curriculum, faculty and physical plant. Represents the 'what a mature circus school looks like' benchmark for Circusful's longer-term training trajectory.
• Circus Oz: Established Australian circus company combining professional touring shows with training programmes. Relevant comparison at the performance / agency layer where Circusful books circus artists for corporate and community events.

Others

• Caravan International Social Circus Network: International membership network of social circus organisations that Circusful helped establish. An ecosystem/peer-association rather than a competitor, but a useful indicator of the category's professionalisation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/circusful

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Circusful