YOUNG STAGE Circus Festival Announces Its Final Edition

YOUNG STAGE, Basel’s iconic international circus festival  announces its closure. YOUNG STAGE 2025will be a special festival and also the last one!
The 16th edition of the YOUNG STAGE Basel International Circus Festival is planned for May 22 to 26, 2025 and will take place under special conditions. The team around Festival Director Nadja Berger has decided that this will be the last festival edition to be held by the non-profit organization based in Basel. YOUNG STAGE 2025 therefore also promises to be a special one in terms of content.

At the end of a festival history spanning almost 20 years – the first festival took place in 2007 – YOUNG STAGE 2025 will once again present and celebrate young, modern artistry in all its facets. This will happen both outdoors and in the Event Hall at Messe Basel. The festival will take place from May 22 to 26, 2025. If Basel is selected as the host city for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, YOUNG STAGE will be postponed until the fall due to bottlenecks in terms of hotel, logistics and location. The festival remains true to its mission for the last edition and offers young, freshly graduated artists from all over the world the opportunity to take advantage of the globally coveted career springboard in Basel. In addition, former prizewinners who started their careers at YOUNG STAGE will be invited to Basel. Some will perform as guest acts and talk about their careers. Other alumni will act as jury members and present the last YOUNG STAGE Awards to their young colleagues at the «Finalissima». A comprehensive supporting program will bring together the global circus and show scene in Basel one last time. Important industry topics will be discussed, workshops and discussions will be held, and much more. The detailed program will be announced at the end of the year.

«We want to bring together once again the people who have made YOUNG STAGE what it is today and celebrate a wonderful end to an unforgettable time together with our loyal audience from the region and the entire circus industry,» says Festival Director Nadja Berger. The YOUNG STAGE organizers are very grateful and happy that they have achieved so many of their goals over the years. The festival is on a sound financial footing and can count on loyal partnerships, in particular the long-standing patronage partnership with the Isaac Dreyfus-Bernheim Foundation. In addition YOUNG STAGE can count on loyal partnerships, records increasing audience numbers year after year and is met with recognition and great enthusiasm from both the public and the international professional scene.

Fundraising and administrative tasks in the foreground

Nadja Berger explains: «We have grown steadily and the festival has developed into a major event.» However, increasing success in the event industry also brings increasing challenges: «Despite all the success with the public, the need for external funding is enormous. A considerable proportion of the budget has to be secured from third parties every year.» Despite some long-standing and loyal partnerships, this remained one of the main tasks. In addition, as the festival grew in size, the need for human resources grew steadily and repetitive operational tasks also increased. Instead of devoting more time to innovation and creative cultural work, the focus is now on fundraising and administrative and organizational tasks. «We realized that this would no longer make us happy in the long term. That’s why we stop when everything is at its best,» says Nadja Berger. A succession has not emerged, the requirement profile is high. «Unfortunately, we have not found anyone who is prepared to take on the entrepreneurial risk and the entire organization. In addition, a successor would also need to have the appropriate specialist knowledge in the artistry field as well as a national and international network in the circus and show industry.»

YOUNG STAGE’s mission lives on

Nadja Berger, who founded YOUNG STAGE in 2007, is very satisfied and grateful for what has been achieved: «For almost 20 years, my mission has been to comprehensively promote young artists in an extremely challenging environment and to give modern circus artistry a voice and a face. My focus has always been on meaningful and authentic content and artistic innovation.» She explains what she will be doing in the future: «Under my own name – and/or also under the YOUNG STAGE brand – I want to get back to the core of my mission, which is based on art, innovation and emotion, magic and wonderful people. My aim is to pass on my extensive expertise in the field of artistry and the performing arts as well as my experience as a producer to a younger generation. And I would like to be more creatively active again and can well imagine getting involved in other events and cultural funding organizations.»

The whole team supports the decision for the last festival edition. But first, everyone is looking forward to a wonderful closing firework next May and would like to thank all the people and institutions who will be supporting them in setting a brilliant finale.

The 16th festival edition is planned from May 22 to 26, 2025. Ticket sales start in December 2024. If Basel is selected as the host city for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 in May 2025, the postponement date for YOUNG STAGE will be communicated as soon as possible.

Main image: courtesy of YOUNG STAGE

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