The festival will feature five different performance blocks, bringing together a wide range of contemporary and traditional circus disciplines. The event is staged every two years and has become a key date in the global circus calendar.

To mark the upcoming festival, the National Circus Arts Center has teamed up with the Hungarian Museum of Science, Technology and Transport for a striking public installation in City Park (Városliget).

On Friday, a fully operational steam locomotive more than 100 years old was lifted into place by crane and positioned in front of the Capital Circus building, where it will remain on display for the next two months.

According to organisers, the collaboration aims to highlight both Hungary’s cultural heritage and the role of knowledge and innovation in shaping the future of the arts.

Speaking at a press briefing, Péter Fekete, Director General of the National Circus Arts Center, pointed out a symbolic coincidence: the Capital Circus of Budapest is 136 years old, the same age as the steam locomotive now standing outside it.

He said the installation sends a clear message about Budapest’s role in contemporary circus arts, describing the city as a driving force behind the international renewal of the genre. Developments taking place in Budapest, he added, are increasingly influencing circus arts worldwide.

The Budapest International Circus Festival, now marking its 30th year, is considered one of the most important professional circus events globally. Organisers describe it as the second-largest festival of its kind, after the International Monte-Carlo Circus Festival.

Fekete also noted that circus arts, once seen primarily as entertainment, are now increasingly recognised as part of the “high arts”.

This year’s programme will include several standout international productions. Two performances from China, never before seen anywhere in the world, will make their debut in Budapest, including a floor acrobatics act featuring 18 performers executing continuous somersaults.

An American aerial acrobatics production will also feature among the headline acts.

Five separate shows will be staged during the festival, with a Saturday performance by Hungarian artists expected to be a particular highlight. Organisers hope the showcase will attract international directors and festival managers, helping Hungarian performers secure new professional opportunities abroad.

Also speaking at the event, Domonkos Schneller, Director General of the Hungarian Museum of Science, Technology and Transport, said the collaboration helps maintain the museum’s public presence while its main building remains closed — a situation that has now lasted almost a decade.

The steam locomotive on display, numbered 326, was built in the late 19th century and remained in active service for around 90 years, until the end of the 1970s.

Schneller noted that only four other examples of this locomotive type remain in Hungary, located in Debrecen, Kápolnásnyék, and two sites in Budapest.

More: 
Budapest Circus Festival