The Fair

Alba Sarraute & Cristina Cazorla
Artistic directors

Welcome,

This year we celebrate 30 years of Trapezi. We congratulate this festival which, since its beginnings, has continued to make more and more people fall in love with circus.

Trapezi is an essential meeting point for those who love circus, a living space that has grown alongside society. A circus that thinks, that questions, that coexists. A festival that is also a place for reflection, exchange and community.

We want all professionals in the sector to feel welcome here, because this Trapezi is something we build together. With the aim of being a springboard for companies that arrive after a long journey of creation, growth and research, we offer a space to present their work, to share and to take one step further.

Trapezi is one link in a large chain of mechanisms that make circus possible: schools, institutions and their support systems, companies, creation centres, festivals, co-production partners, communication teams, distributors and programmers from around the world… all working towards what matters most: our beloved and eagerly awaited audience.

We share an imaginary, a passion. We work with the body, with balance, with art and with freedom of expression—philosophical, emotional and political. We also stand for the daily struggle of minorities to find their place with dignity, as a way of building a better world, day by day.

We keep going. Always forward.

Health and circus.

Alba Sarraute & Cristina Cazorla

The triple poster for this 30th edition has been created by two professionals from Reus: Sergi Herrera, a visual artist, graphic designer and ephemeral architect, and Marc Díez, an illustrator, designer and motion graphics artist.

They describe their creation as follows:

“Year after year, Trapezi transforms the everyday life of Reus, turning it into a dream of acrobatics and performances. Based on this dreamlike narrative, we have created three poster images featuring real artists, all of whom have taken part in previous editions. They break away from the established frame of daily life, conveying the sense of balance and movement that defines the Catalonia Circus Fair.

The protagonists step out of the two-dimensional space of the poster to call out to us, reflecting the different disciplines we will be able to enjoy and inviting us to become part of these five days of circus in the city. Their gestures and proportions have been distorted and exaggerated to emphasise expression and bring dynamism to the overall composition.

We have also made a nod to the past by using a modern version of the typography from the early editions of the Fair.”

Since 1997, Reus has been hosting Trapezi, the Circus Fair of Catalonia. Year after year, every May, the city fills the streets and theaters with shows that turn the squares of Reus into scenic spaces and transform the city into a large circus ring.

With its own label open to various trends, aesthetics, formats and ways of understanding and experiencing the circus, Trapezi becomes a reference frame for all circus lovers, professionals, programmers and the public, who when the month of May arrives have a reason to meet in the city of Reus.

Trapezi was awarded the National Circus Award in 2012 by the Ministry of Culture. Previously, in 2007, the Generalitat awarded the National Culture Award to the artistic directors of Trapezi, for their contribution to the dignity and development of the circus in Catalonia, both in the artistic aspect and for their impact on the public; for the desire for cultural decentralization and regional dynamism; for being a hub for meeting and exchange, and for having become a benchmark among European festivals.