Cirque Plus believes in the power of open-air circus To connect, surprise and bring people together.
Our pillars
Cirque Plus is guided by a clear vision: outdoor circus brings people together. Outside the walls of a theater, space is created for encounters, wonder, and connection between different generations, backgrounds, and worlds. Based on this conviction, Cirque Plus builds, year after year, a festival that combines artistic quality with accessibility, inclusion, talent development, and sustainability. These pillars form the heart of the festival.
1. Outdoor circus for all
Cirque Plus deliberately chooses outdoor because we want to bring circus as close to people as possible and in the most accessible way possible. Moreover, the heritage location of the Grand Seminary is not only safe and inviting for a wide and diverse audience, but makes it a unique setting for audiences and performers to explore the various performances. Also, most performances are free, making it easy for financially vulnerable groups to connect. Thus we create a natural meeting place where families, young people, casual passers-by and circus enthusiasts feel at home and are introduced to circus talent of (inter)national top level.
2. Talent development and new creators
We are an engine for the future of Flemish open-air circus. Through pathways with creators of short acts and the network Circ'uit, we support open-air creations. In recent years, (inter)national budding creators could test new material for our audience under the name Cirque Numerique. Starting in 2027, Cirque Numerique will devolve into a new development track in collaboration with Perplx, Cultuurcentrum Brugge, Cultuurcentrum De Spil and Woesh. More information will follow soon. CIRC'OUT was founded in 2020 and brings together festivals, organizations and venues that each support outdoor circus in their own way. This can be through performance venues, co-productions, artistic guidance, promotion or other forms of support. This way, new and existing circus talent gets more opportunities to create, show and grow.
3. Inclusion as an artistic force
The choice to commit to inclusive circus is in line with Cirque Plus' artistic DNA: we consciously build a stage that reflects the diversity of our society. This is reflected in a thoughtful, inclusive selection of performers: women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ performers, creators with disabilities, performers from diverse backgrounds, and a balance between Flemish and international companies. Circus is pre-eminently an art form that transcends borders and connects people. But also behind the scenes we focus on diversity and participation. We work together with Viro and Cie Cordial, among others. By making that diversity central and offering our performances outdoors, we not only increase artistic richness, but also contribute to an inclusive and connected society. We showcase work with and by artists with disabilities each year and actively build inclusive circus. To learn more about our inclusive pathways, click here
4. Sustainable and conscious festival
We are working step by step toward a more sustainable festival organization: from energy- and material-conscious production to vegetarian catering and careful site design. Sustainability is woven into everything we do. Cirque Plus is so much more than a circus festival: it is a warm, open space where everyone is welcome to be surprised, to discover, and to enjoy If you’d like to know more, click here.
Our partners
Together with the Bruges Cultural Center, we are building a strong and complementary circus offer in the city.