Antwerp's Atlas Festival is actually one of three parallel events collected as the four-day Extreme Convention. There's the Convention itself, an all-levels weekend workshop programme of 'acrobatic circus' (which turns out to actually be more like a dozen workshop programmes running in parallel, with some rarer stuff like Russian swing and bar represented); the Master Classes strand for circus professionals and advanced students, an intensive three-day course with a small group of high-level trainers; and then the Festival itself, which draws from the pool of artists attending or teaching at the Convention, and which leans more towards act-based work than full productions (though they have a headliner – in 2011 Circolombia with Urban).
Everything takes place at the Circo d'ell Fuego, an immense open-plan hangar, so you can train all day and see the festival performances in the evening. Prices for the Convention are reasonable, and professionals on the Master Class programme have meals, accommodation and free access to the Atlas Festival and weekend Convention events included in the cost. There's a big discount for students as well.