The road to Croatia proved challenging. Ahead lie new cities, hotels, stages, brief rehearsals, and performances for new audiences. The children are somewhat tired from the journey, but happy: for many of them, this is their first experience of a real international touring circuit.
Showing Europe talented Ukrainian children
The main goal of the trip is to introduce young Ukrainian artists to European audiences. And not just from the Bilohorodka community: the team includes children from different regions of Ukraine.
«Our goal is to show European audiences our talented children. Not just from our community, but from all corners of Ukraine. We want to show them not only in Ukraine, but also beyond its borders».
According to the organizer of Bilhorod Circus Fest, Olha Sobosevych, one of the partners who believed in the idea of an international tour was the charity organization Dobro Dobrym. After seeing the level of Ukrainian children, the partners suggested showing these performances to European audiences.
If the first performances in Croatia prove to be a successful beginning, the organizers hope to expand the project's geography and in the future create full-fledged touring routes across European countries.
From «The Golden Chestnut» to Bilhorod Circus Fest
For the Bilhorod Circus Fest team, this current project holds another important meaning — an attempt to revive the tradition of a large professional circus community that once formed around the Kyiv festival «The Golden Chestnut».
As Bilhorod Circus Fest administrator Viktoria Prusnik explains, «The Golden Chestnut» was not only a famous festival but also a meeting place for graduates of Kyiv's circus school and renowned artists who came to Ukraine from different countries.
«It was actually two events in one. A famous festival and at the same time a reunion of graduates, stars who came from all over the world. Children could see artists they had read about, could communicate with them. Now we are gradually trying to revive this culture of community already in Bilohorodka».
According to her, renowned representatives of circus arts already visit the festival, and young participants have the opportunity not just to perform, but to see professional artists in person, communicate with them, and feel part of a large professional community.
A festival where talent should not depend on family wealth
Bilhorod Circus Fest was created from the beginning as a free festival for children. The organizers call this principle one of the main missions of the project.
«A child's talent should not depend on family wealth. This is a red thread running through all our events».
Many festivals require participation fees, which can become a barrier for families. Bilhorod Circus Fest strives to maintain a different principle: if a child has talent and a high level of training, they should have the opportunity to take the stage regardless of their parents' financial situation.
The festival receives a large number of submissions. According to the organizers, from approximately two hundred acts, about 65 can be selected for the final program.
At the same time, the main criterion is not just spectacle, but a level as close as possible to professional circus arts.
«Profession on taste»: children experience a real touring circuit
The Croatian trip opened another direction of development for Bilhorod Circus Fest. Viktoria Prusnik calls it the formula of «profession on taste».
Children get the opportunity not just to take the stage once, but to feel what a professional artist's life on tour really looks like.
«This is a full touring circuit: long travels, changing cities, changing hotels, changing venues, little time for rehearsals. They are now essentially tasting the profession and international show».
The team sees this as one of the main differences in their format. Bilhorod Circus Fest does not seek to compete with all children's festivals. On the contrary, other platforms can remain places where as many children as possible try circus arts for the first time.
And Bilhorod Circus Fest wants to gradually occupy the niche of the next stage — professional development for those for whom circus has already become not just a hobby, but a possible future career.
Dream Makers: 35 children and an hour and a half of Ukrainian show
35 participants aged 8 to 18 traveled to Croatia. These are children from different parts of Ukraine, including from Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, and Kyiv regions.
For the Croatian tour, a separate program was prepared — Dream Makers. Its concept was created by the team together with director Svitlana Karlytska.
The program is named «dream makers». The idea is to show through circus arts the dreams of children, their work, character, and what they aspire to.
In Croatia, performances are planned in two cities — Zagreb and Opatija. Before the audiences, young Ukrainian artists will present an approximately one-and-a-half-hour concert program.
«These are little artists of a big show. Here they are no longer competitors, as they would be at a festival. We have become one team, one whole».
They boarded the bus as participants from different cities — they arrived in Croatia as one team
For the organizers, this journey is important not only because of the performances themselves. Some of the children hardly knew each other before the trip: they represent different schools, collectives, and cities.
But by the time they traveled to Croatia, the situation had changed.
«At first, we didn't know all the children as closely as we knew our own. But now on the bus everyone has become so close that you can feel: this is already one team. We are not competitors here — we are together representing Ukraine».
Children who recently could have competed with each other for festival places will now take the European stage as one Ukrainian team.
The next step — agents, producers, and real contracts
In the future, the organizers want not only ordinary audiences but also representatives of the professional industry — agents, producers, and people looking for new talent — to attend Bilhorod Circus Fest performances.
«I want our children to be seen. And so that over time, professional agents and producers come to our shows, see a child, and offer them a real contract».
This is how Bilhorod Circus Fest sees its place in the future: not just a festival with prizes and diplomas, but a professional platform that can be a bridge between training and a real international career.
Previously, the organizers recall, international professionals came to Ukraine themselves. At major circus festivals, the jury included representatives from Japan, China, the USA, and other countries.
Since the start of the full-scale war, such opportunities have been significantly reduced.
«They used to come to us. Now, because of the war, they are not coming — so we must go to them».
Not just representing Ukraine, but creating a professional route
The organizers hope that this current tour will become the foundation for future international trips. In perspective, this is about regular touring, new countries, joint shows, and partnership projects.
Among ideas for the future is the possibility of holding some international stages or final events outside Ukraine, and after the war ends, the return of major international artists and professionals to Bilohorodka.
The team also talks about the possibility of artists from other countries participating, so that the festival eventually becomes a full-fledged international professional platform.
The Croatian side is also interested in cooperation
According to the festival team, possible future formats of cooperation are already being discussed in Croatia.
In particular, this is about conducting master classes and joint events, as there are few similar circus projects for children in such a format there.
The organizers also report preliminary interest in cooperation at the level of cultural institutions and possible support for future projects. At the same time, they emphasize: for now, these are only prospective agreements, the specific format of which still needs to be determined.
For Bilhorod Circus Fest, even reaching this level of dialogue means a new stage of development.
So that Europe sees what Ukraine is
Bilhorod Circus Fest on this journey is already more than just a festival. The organizers aim to tell, through children's performances, about modern Ukraine — talented, creative, and able to develop even during war.
«I hope we will be warmly received, the children will perform well, and our community and Ukraine will be proud of us. And so that the Croats will see who Ukrainians are and how talented our children are».
During the Croatian tour, the team also wants to more closely introduce the audience to the participants themselves: tell where they are from, how long they have been involved in circus arts, how they came to it, and what they dream about.
Bilohorodka as a future center of circus arts
A separate part of the strategy is the team's promotion of Bilohorodka itself.
Viktoria Prusnik is convinced that a major festival can work not only for the development of arts, but also for the recognition of the place where it was born.
The organizers want guests from Ukraine and other countries to eventually come to Bilohorodka not only for the festival, but also to learn about the history of the area, its monuments, and cultural heritage.
«I want people to come here not just for the festival. I want them to want to see Bilohorodka, its ramparts, its history, to understand what land they are on. This is also an opportunity to develop
