Berlin Circus Festival

Name

Berlin Circus Festival

Legal name

Berlin Circus Festival UG (haftungsbeschränkt)

Website

https://berlin-circus-festival.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Performing Arts Festival

NAICS

Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries (711), Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events with Facilities (711310), Other Performing Arts Companies (711190), Performing Arts Companies (7111)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Circus & Physical Theatre (MPAGABAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Arts & Culture Community Festivals (Multidisciplinary Arts Weeks) (MPAGAEAG)

Keywords

• Contemporary circus festival
• Performing arts events
• Circus artist residencies
• Live performance tickets
• Cultural festival programming

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin-müggelheim

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: Single tickets and combination tickets for circus performances sold online and at the venue box office. Individual show tickets range from €18-23.50 with reduced rates for children, students, and people with disabilities. Combination tickets for two shows at €32-43.
2. Festival Friends Membership: Annual subscription program with three tiers: Light (€50/year), Regular (€100/year), and Plus (€150/year). Members receive access to behind-the-scenes content, exclusive events, early program access, and voting rights. Subscription provides digital and physical benefits.
3. Sponsorship and Partnerships: Corporate sponsorship from partners including Fritz Kola, Paulaner, Institut Français, and FluxFM. Partners receive visibility and direct access to diverse engaged audience. Festival grew from 1,500 guests in 2015 to 10,000 guests over 12 days.
4. Professional Accreditation: Professional accreditation for industry visitors (Pro Days) provides discounted access and professional networking opportunities. Accreditations include free festival entry and reduced hotel rates.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Berlin Circus Festival organizes an annual 12-day contemporary circus festival at Tempelhofer Feld in Berlin, presenting around 20 international productions across 5 stages with approximately 50 shows. The festival is complemented by a paid FestivalFriends membership program, a Professional Days industry program, the Open Stage platform for emerging artists, workshops, podcasts, and side programming such as art exhibitions and live music.

Product overview

Berlin Circus Festival is a platform-based festival offering focused on contemporary circus arts. The core product is the annual 12-day festival featuring international productions across multiple stages. Supporting offerings include the FestivalFriends subscription membership (with three tiers: Light, Regular, and Plus), the Professional Days program for industry networking, Open Stage for emerging artists (with FLINTA* focus), the Meet the Artist podcast, the Digital Soul Protocol Web3 project, media archive, workshops, and the TADA inclusion initiative. The festival operates primarily in German and English, hosting approximately 20 productions with 52-53 shows per edition.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• BCF FestivalFriends: A membership program offering behind-the-scenes access, exclusive content, invitations to artistic processes, and festival visits. Three tiers available: Light (€50/year), Regular (€100/year), and Plus (€150/year).
• Professional Days (Pro Days)
• Open Stage

Products and services

• Berlin Circus Festival (Annual Event) A 12-day annual contemporary circus festival held at Tempelhofer Feld in Berlin, featuring around 20 international productions across 5 stages with approximately 50 shows, plus side programming such as an open-air art exhibition, live music, audience discussions, and dining. Targeted at general public audiences, families, and cultural tourists aged 3+.
• FestivalFriends Membership Annual paid membership program with three tiers (Light €50/year, Regular €100/year, Plus €150/year) offering digital and physical benefits including behind-the-scenes content, blog access, program voting, work-in-progress invitations, exclusive festival visits, and program release events. Distributed via the Hypersub platform.
• Professional Days (Pro Days) A three-day industry program for international circus professionals with International Sessions, Pitching Sessions, Work-in-Progress presentations, and panel discussions. Accreditation is free via Google Forms and includes discounted hotel partner rates and professional-rate tickets.
• Meet the Artist Podcast A podcast series featuring interviews with circus artists, sharing their stories, creative processes, thoughts, and insights into their everyday lives, produced primarily in English.

Quantifiable outcome

• Grown from 1,500 guests in 2015 to 13,000 visitors in 2025 (11th edition)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Digital Soul Protocol (DSP)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Three-year Creative Europe project developing a Web3 protocol enabling circus artists, venues, and festivals to form token-based communities with audiences. Berlin Circus Festival is one of the main partners. Spectators transform from consumers to active co-creators, connecting to a pan-European community.
• circusnextcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019European platform gathering 24 partner organizations from 15 countries to identify emerging circus artists, support creation and circulation of works. The Berlin Circus Festival is a platform member since 2019, offering annual residencies, work-in-progress presentations, and including final pieces in its program. The festival represents circusnext in Berlin and supports young artists with applications.
• Zirkus ONcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGerman creation alliance for which Berlin Circus Festival is an alliance partner. The festival offers selected artists residencies and opportunities to develop and present creations at work-in-progress showings or in the official program. The alliance works for professionalization and development of the German circus scene.
• Institut Ramon LlullmajorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner in the Catalan Focus 2026 festival program. Jointly conducts the International Reception with representatives from Institut Ramon Llull and ICEC during Professional Days (July 7-9, 2026).
• ICEC (Institut Català de les Empreses Culturals)majorGTM or Marketing PartnerCo-funding partner for the Catalan Focus 2026. Jointly conducts the International Reception with Institut Ramon Llull during Professional Days.
• Dynamo Workspace (DK)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGry Lambertsen, Artistic Co-director of Dynamo Workspace, presents at the International Session during Pro Days 2026 as one of four expert speakers.
• Ay-Roop (FR)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPauline Sarrazin, Producer at Ay-Roop (Distribution & Production house, Festival), presents at the International Session during Pro Days 2026.
• Fira Tarrega (ES-CAT)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMike Ribalta, Head of Professionals Department at Fira Tarrega, presents at the International Session during Pro Days 2026.
• Maison de Jonglages (FR)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVincent Berhault, Director of Maison de Jonglages and Rencontres des jonglages, presents at the International Session during Pro Days 2026.
• Bundesverband Zeitgenössischer Zirkus (BUZZ)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal Association of Contemporary Circus. The Berlin Circus Festival is an important meeting place for the national and international circus scene as a member of BUZZ, promoting active development and structural strengthening of the scene.
• Umweltdruck BerlinminorOthersEnvironmental printing partner since founding in 2015. All print products are produced with environmentally friendly paper and non-toxic colors, certified with Blue Angel. Partnership keeps delivery routes short and efficient.
• The Sphere (EU Project)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerExperimental EU project from January 2020 to March 2024 between 8 partner organizations worldwide. Developed alternative funding opportunities and a digital creation space. Predecessor to Digital Soul Protocol.
• NaumannsminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerLocal catering partner providing Pinsa, salads, and antipasto plates at the festival restaurant. Partnership started 2026 for team and artist catering.
• Lebenshilfe BerlinminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSocial organization partnership for TADA project (Tokenized Audience driven by Art). Enables people with limited access to cultural offerings to participate in contemporary circus and actively co-create.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Dynamo Workspace: Danish contemporary circus creation and presentation space. Comparable niche-scale artist-development mission and existing BCF partner (speaker at Pro Days 2026); smaller scale and emerging compared to BCF.

Broad incumbents

• Schaubühne Berlin: Major Berlin performing arts venue. Comparable Berlin cultural landscape, audience overlap, and public funding base, but operates year-round theater programming rather than circus festivals.
• Cirque du Soleil: Global commercial circus giant and parent of the TOHU ecosystem. Adjacent category leader whose touring productions and festivals shape the same contemporary-circus market, though business model (commercial ticketed tours) is fundamentally different from BCF's curated-festival model.

Direct peers

• Chamäleon Theater Berlin: Berlin-based year-round venue dedicated to contemporary circus and physical theater. Most direct functional peer — same city, same artistic category, same target audience — but operates continuously rather than as a single annual festival.
• CircusStad Festival: Rotterdam-based contemporary circus festival featuring international productions across multiple venues. Closely mirrors BCF's multi-stage multi-day format with European artist lineup.
• Maison de Jonglages: French contemporary circus creation and diffusion network (Rencontres des jonglages). Comparable artist-residency and touring mission, and existing BCF partner presenting at Pro Days 2026.
• Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain: Paris-based biennial competitive circus festival showcasing emerging international circus talent. Closest international peer to BCF — same core activity (circus festival, artist discovery, multi-day format) — though oriented around competition rather than curated showcase.
• TOHU Montréal: Montréal's circus-arts venue and festival complex linked to Cirque du Soleil's ecosystem. Combines year-round venue with major circus events and residencies — comparable operating model (performance + artist development + community programs) at larger North American scale.
• La Fira de Circ Trapezi: Reus, Catalonia — annual contemporary circus festival and one of Spain's flagship circus events. Directly comparable multi-day international circus festival with similar artist-development programming and audience scale.
• Fira Tàrrega: Tàrrega, Catalonia — annual international performing arts street festival with professional market component. Comparable multi-day outdoor format and an existing BCF partner (International Session at Pro Days 2026).

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/berlincircusfestival
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/berlin-circus-festival

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 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 Berlin Circus Festival