Summarising the information from a European seminar arranged in 2011 by Circostrada Network in partnership with the French national information centre for street arts and circus HorsLesMurs and the Dutch festival Circo Circolo, this publication gives an overview of the evolution of the European Capital of Cultures programme, suggests some ways in which circus and outdoor arts suit the priorities of the programme, and ends with a short series of recommendations to circus stakeholders, ECOC teams, and policymakers.
The publication also incorporates four interviews with cultural agents involved in previous ECOC programmes: one with Nathalie Allio-Duclos, Director of Culture of the city of Aix-en-Provence; one with Guy Carrara, co-director of the company Archaos and the CREAC, who worked on Marseilles Provenece 2013; and two with Patricia Kapusta, Secretary general of Le Prato – Pôle National des Arts du Cirque, and Olivier Sergent, Director of the Maison Folie in Lille-Wazemme, who were both key agents in Lille 2004.