The Oleśnica Festival of Circus and Art means three days in August dedicated to contemporary circus art. Enthusiastic audiences, colourful, eye-catching artists and music take over the city, turning its space into a theatrical stage of the New Circus.

During OFCA, every year, you can admire the best performances of jugglers, acrobats, magicians, musicians as well as  street and stage actors. Highline tapes stretch over the city, and colourful visitors and participants from all over the world flit through the streets.

 The most important part of the festival are street and stage performances. The first ones are dedicated to the general public and are intended for family entertainment. Viewers often take an active part in the performance, have an influence on its course, assist and support the artist with spontaneous applause. Closed shows, on the other hand, are complex theatre and circus performances, focused on the performer’s artistic message, often requiring a special space to fully reflect the atmosphere of the staging.

 However, other elements also contribute to the unique character of the event. In addition to the high level of the artistic program, we also care about the joyful and friendly atmosphere. Therefore, on the list of attractions you will find workshops for children, a food truck zone with delicious food, and the festival club “Bar Żongler” with its own artistic program.

In a selected part of the city a commemorative mural is also created. It is an artistic trace that each edition leaves behind. Every year, young artists are invited to take part in this project and together we develop the street art symbol of the festival.

 An important spot on the festival map is, of course, the campsite located at the foot of the castle. In addition to the infrastructure enabling comfortable accommodation, you will find there a whole lot of positively crazy people, artistic improvisations outside of the repertoire, laughter, music all in the vicinity of the festival club. The festival life continues here a long time after the audience’s applause from the evening performances quietens down.

WE are OFCA

The first edition of the festival started in 2014 and today we think about it with great fondness. Who would have expected a local festival to turn into a big New Circus celebration?

We started as a small group of enthusiasts with heads full of new ideas each year. In 2015, the OFCA Foundation was established to coordinate the festival work and accompanying projects. The Oleśnica initiative, thanks to the support of the city authorities, sponsors, donors and a well-coordinated team of volunteers, is one of the most important Polish circus events.

The range of the event is perfectly illustrated by the numbers. OFCA consists of over 227 artists from 22 countries from all over the world, 150 volunteers involved, 6 murals decorating the facades of buildings, over 100 workshop hours, 82 unique circus performances organised on stages and in public space, a kilometre of hanging tapes and, above all, thousands of spectators and participants who constantly encourage and motivate us to work and develop continuously.