“Such a vibrant, inspiring, joyful weekend. Belfast is very lucky to have Circusful, and the wonderful resource of the 2RA building”
“Grand Finale, Writers Square, 6pm – really very breathtaking, to witness such trust, collaboration, skill, showmanship and finesse was something we will really take away with us from this year!!”
Ireland’s largest free street performance festival has celebrated its most diverse and longest running programme of events to date, taking place in Belfast city centre from April 29th – May 01st 2023. The programme offered three full days of jam-packed, all-inclusive entertainment for the whole family including circus, magic, puppetry, a range of drop-in workshops for children and adults at 2 Royal Avenue, and for the first time three very special sold out evening shows on May 02nd – 04th with Bricolage.
Jenna Hall, Festival of Fools Chief Executive, said: “Festival of Fools 2023 was packed full of festival firsts and once again brought much needed joy and shared laughter to Belfast over the bank holiday weekend. The street-based programme included a black taxi converted into a circus rig, a spectacular aerial show and a range of other performers using clowning, acrobatics, puppetry, magic and much much more, all concluded on the Monday evening with a classic Big Finish in St. Anne’s Square. Alongside this there were even more firsts, including capacity crowds all three days at 2 Royal Avenue with everyone enjoying performances by young people from across the island of Ireland, a Fresh Fools cabaret by emerging artists and the opportunity to give circus a go themselves. Another really special moment that will stick with me and audiences for a long time was the fantastic the promenade piece, Follow their Footsteps, that was performed by Circusful’s youth circus members. I’m also delighted to say that our evening programme, Bricolage was sold out for all three performances. All in all, Festival of Fools 2023 quite possibly offered our most diverse programme yet. The team and I are taking a moment to stop before we capture our learning and begin the planning for Festival of Fools 2024.
With the arts in Northern Ireland facing significant cuts over the coming year, I’d like to remind people that it’s not too late to donate to Festival of Fools – www.FoolsFestival.com/donate “
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