Acrobatics, fragility, poetry, fusion of disciplines... There are a thousand ways to do circus, as shown by the artists programmed in the Grec 2025 Festival of Barcelona. If your idea of circus is stuck in the last century, let it go — this is something entirely different.

The opening show of this year’s Grec Festival is a performance that fuses circus and dance to bring to the stage a poetic album evoking the cycle of the seasons. Here, circus becomes a battle (or alliance) with gravity and other physical forces, thanks to Yoan Bourgeois. It’s Le Petit Cirque, which has already sold out its performances at the Teatre Grec (June 26–28).

What happens when you do circus with blown glass objects of extreme fragility on stage? You’ll find out in Sklenka Melta(Sant Andreu Teatre – saT!; July 3 and 4), by artist Vivian Friedrich and the company DiffractionArt.

Acrobatics and balancing acts are classic circus practices that can also carry evocative, symbolic meanings. This is something the eight friends united by their love and skill for circus explore in Eunoia Kolektiva. Their show Tenet(Barcelona premiere!) showcases stunning acrobatic portés while offering a dramaturgical reflection on bodily awareness in relation to space and others. What happens when we reverse our perspective? Discover it at Mercat de les Flors – Sala Ovidi Montllor on July 11 or 12 (or both!).

Pablo Molina presents Candy at the Mercat de les Flors on July 25 and 26. His vision of circus integrates elements of theatre and dance, which he uses masterfully to craft a show that oscillates between comedy and horror, plunging us into a house... and the mind of its inhabitant.

The circus program wraps up on Monday and Tuesday, July 28–29, with Play Dead, a show full of physical theatre, movement, and acrobatics by the Canadian company People Watching. Performed at Mercat de les Flors – Sala Maria Aurèlia Capmany, this is contemporary circus with depth and meaning, guaranteed to keep your eyes glued to the stage.

If you want to see what 21st-century circus is all about, come to the Grec 2025 Festival of Barcelona. But first, check all the information and show details on the festival’s official website.