Juggling convention facts for kids

Haggis and Charlie showing off their skills at the 2009 Glastonbury Festival.

A juggling convention or juggling festival is a special event where people who love juggling come together. These events happen every year in many countries, cities, and even local juggling clubs. They are super important for the juggling community because they bring jugglers from all over to meet, share ideas, and have fun. Some conventions might have just a few dozen people, while others can attract thousands!

What Happens at Juggling Conventions?

The main part of most juggling conventions is a big hall. Here, anyone can juggle freely, learn new tricks from others, and try out cool juggling patterns with many people.

Besides free juggling, there are often "workshops." These are like mini-classes where expert jugglers teach small groups specific skills and techniques. Most conventions also have a big show for everyone to watch, plus competitions and fun juggling games.

Many conventions also host a "Renegade Show." This is an open stage where anyone can quickly sign up and perform almost anything they want! It's a chance to be creative and show off.

If you want to find out about past or upcoming juggling events, the Juggling Edge website has a helpful list.

Different Kinds of Juggling Conventions

Juggling conventions come in a few different types, even though they all share the same name.

Festival Style Conventions

These conventions usually last from three to ten days. They can attract a lot of people, from about 150 to over 5,500! Most people who attend these festivals camp out in tents right at the convention site. This camping cost is usually included in the ticket price.

At these festivals, you'll often find food tents, drink stands, and large sports halls or big circus tents for juggling. During the day, there are shows, workshops, games, parades, and exhibitions. Every night, there's entertainment like professional shows, open stages, late-night performances, live music, and parties. The biggest festival-style conventions are held in Europe.

Some well-known festival conventions include:

• The European Juggling Convention: This is the world's largest juggling event. It happens in a different European country each year. The very first one was in 1978 in Brighton, England, with only 11 jugglers! It lasts 7 to 9 days. In 2011, over 7,200 jugglers came to Munich, Germany, making it the biggest one ever at that time.
• The British Juggling Convention: This 5-7 day event in the UK attracts between 750 and 1,000 people each year. It's usually held during the Easter school holiday.
• Israeli Juggling Convention: This convention runs for 5 days during the Passover holiday. It takes place at Gan HaShlosha National Park in northern Israel and draws about 1,200-1,400 jugglers.
• Berlin Juggling Convention: Germany's largest juggling convention, with about 600-800 people attending annually.
• Circulation: A 3-5 day festival in New Zealand, attended by up to 300 people.
• The Dutch Juggling Convention: This 4-day convention happens every year in a different city in the Netherlands during the Ascension Day holiday. About 500 jugglers attend.
• Broxford: This is a 9-day convention held in southern England, attracting about 300 people each year.
• The Bungay Balls Up: A 10-day convention held in Suffolk, UK.
• The Turkish Juggling Convention: A 7-day convention held in Sundance-Antalya, with over 300 attendees.
• The Swedish Juggling Convention: A four-day convention held over the Easter holiday.
• Brianza Juggling Convention: Held in Imbersago (MI), Italy. This four-day convention in May attracts about 1,000 people.
• Dali Flow Fest: Located in Dali City, Yunnan, China. This seven-day convention in the Chinese calendar's third moon attracts about 150 people.

Conference Style Conventions

These events are usually held in city hotels or large conference centers. They are mostly found in North America and can be a bit more expensive than the European festivals. Camping is rarely an option because they are held indoors.

Some well-known conference conventions are:

• The IJA Summer Festival: This is the oldest and longest-running juggling convention. It moves to a different city each year. In the 1990s, it had up to 1,300 jugglers. In 2014, over 500 jugglers attended in West Lafayette, Indiana.
• The World Juggling Federation Convention: The first WJF convention was in Las Vegas in December 2004, with 150-200 jugglers. Some WJF conventions have even been shown on ESPN!

One-Day Conventions

These are smaller, local conventions that usually last one to three days. They typically attract between 25 and 250 people. They offer workshops throughout the day and a show in the evening. At these smaller conventions, food and accommodation are usually not provided. They are often held in sports centers, schools, or universities.

Some notable one-day conventions include:

• Chocfest in York, UK
• Leeds Juggling Festival in Leeds, UK
• Camvention in Cambridge, UK
• Bath Upchuck at the University of Bath in the UK

The Four Biggest Juggling Events

The most popular juggling convention is the European Juggling Convention (EJC). Other very large and important events are the British Juggling Convention (BJC), the Israeli Juggling Convention (IJC), and the IJA Festival (IJA). All of these big events happen every year.

The BJC takes place each spring, the IJC is held during the Passover holiday, and both the EJC and IJA are summer festivals. As you might guess, the BJC is in Britain, the IJC is in Israel, and the EJC is in Europe. The IJA Festival, however, has always been held in North America, even though it's a major event for the International Jugglers' Association.

See also

In Spanish: Encuentro de malabaristas para niños