Juggling convention

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Haggis and Charlie at the 2009 Glastonbury Festival. Haggis and Charlie.JPG
Haggis and Charlie at the 2009 Glastonbury Festival.

Many countries, cities or juggling clubs hold their own annual juggling convention or juggling festivals. These are the backbone of the juggling scene, the events that regularly bring jugglers from a wide area together to socialize. The attendance of a convention can be anything from a few dozen to a few thousand people.

Contents

Typical activities

The principal focus of most juggling conventions is the main hall - where any participant can juggle freely, share and learn tricks, and try out multi-person passing patterns. Additionally, more formal "workshops" are often organized, in which expert jugglers work with small groups on specific skills and techniques. Most Juggling Conventions will also include a big show (open to the general public), competitions and juggling games. Many juggling conventions host some kind of Renegade Show, an open stage where anyone can, at short notice, get up and perform just about anything.

The Juggling Edge maintains a searchable database of past and upcoming juggling festivals and events.

Types of juggling conventions

Conventions can be split into three distinct types, though all call themselves "Juggling Conventions":

"Festival"

These last three to ten days and can attract between 150 and 5,500 people. Most attendees camp, pitching tents within the convention site, and this is covered by the cost of attendance. Onsite there are usually food tents, bar tents, various sports halls or large bigtops for juggling space. During the day there can be shows, workshops, games, parades and exhibitions. Every night there is entertainment provided in the forms of professional shows, open stages, late night stages, live music, parties and more. The largest festival style conventions are held in Europe.

Some notable festival style conventions are:

"Conference"

These are held in city center hotels or conference centers. They are invariably in North America and slightly more expensive than the European Juggling Convention. Camping is only rarely an option, as most are held in hotel convention centers. Notable conference-style conventions are :

"One Day"

Small, regional conventions that last up to two or three days. These usually attract between 25 and 250 people, have workshops throughout the day and a show in the evening of the main day. At these conventions accommodation and food is not normally provided. They are usually held in sports centres, schools or universities. Some notable one day conventions are:

The four largest conventions

The most well attended convention is the European Juggling Convention (EJC), along with the British Juggling Convention (BJC), the Israeli Juggling Convention (IJC), and the IJA Festival (IJA). They all take place annually.

The BJC occurs every spring, the IJC is staged over Passover, and the EJC and IJA are summer festivals. The BJC takes place in Britain, the IJC in Israel, and the EJC in Europe, as one might expect, but the IJA Festival has so far proven to be an exclusively North American event, despite it being the principal date in the calendar of the International Jugglers' Association.

Dates and locations of the four largest festivals

YearBritish Juggling ConventionEuropean Juggling ConventionIJA FestivalIsraeli Juggling Convention
2026EJC 48: Ptuj, Slovenia
2025BJC 35: Thurrock CancelledEJC 47: Papendal, Netherlands IJA 78: Evansville, Indiana
2024BJC 34: Lytham St Annes EJC 46: Ovar, Portugal IJA 77: Green Bay, Wisconsin
2023BJC 33: Ramsgate EJC 45: Lublin, Poland IJA 76: South Bend, Indiana
2022BJC 32: Ramsgate EJC 44: Tres Cantos, Madrid, Spain IJA 75: Cedar Rapids, Iowa
2021BJC 32: Perth CancelledEJC 43: Hanko, Finland Cancelled/OnlineIJA 74: Wichita, Kansas (online)
2020IJA 73: El Paso, Texas Cancelled
2019EJC 42: Newark, United Kingdom IJA 72: Fort Wayne, Indiana
2018BJC 31: Canterbury EJC 41: São Miguel, Azores IJA 71: Springfield, Massachusetts
2017BJC 30: Nottingham EJC 40: Lublin, Poland IJA 70: Cedar Rapids, Iowa
2016BJC 29: Perth EJC 39: Almere, Netherlands IJA 69: El Paso, Texas
2015BJC 28: Darton EJC 38: Bruneck, Italy IJA 68: Quebec City, Canada IJC 22: Gan HaShlosha National Park (Sachne)
2014BJC 27: Darton EJC 37: Millstreet, Ireland IJA 67: West Lafayette, Indiana IJC 21: Gan HaShlosha National Park (Sachne)
2013BJC 26: Pickering EJC 36: Toulouse, France IJA 66: Bowling Green, Ohio IJC 20: Gan HaShlosha National Park (Sachne)
2012BJC 25: Southend EJC 35: Lublin, Poland IJA 65: Winston-Salem, North Carolina IJC 19: Gan HaShlosha National Park (Sachne)
2011BJC 24: Nottingham EJC 34: Munich, Germany IJA 64: Rochester, Minnesota IJC 18: Gan HaShlosha National Park (Sachne)
2010BJC 23: Huddersfield EJC 33: Joensuu, Finland IJA 63: Sparks, Nevada IJC 17: Gan HaShlosha National Park (Sachne)
2009BJC 22: Norwich EJC 32: Vitoria/Gasteiz, Basque country, Spain IJA 62: Winston-Salem, North Carolina IJC 16: Gan HaShlosha National Park (Sachne)
2008BJC 21: Doncaster EJC 31: Karlsruhe, Germany IJA 61: Lexington, Kentucky IJC 15: Gan HaShlosha National Park (Sachne)
2007BJC 20: Nottingham EJC 30: Athens, Greece IJA 60: Winston-Salem, North Carolina IJC 14: Gan HaShlosha National Park (Sachne)
2006BJC 19: Bodmin EJC 29: Millstreet, Ireland IJA 59: Portland, Oregon IJC 13: Gan HaShlosha National Park (Sachne)
2005BJC 18: Perth EJC 28: Ptuj, Slovenia IJA 58: Davenport, Iowa IJC 12: Gan HaShlosha National Park (Sachne)
2004BJC 17: Derby EJC 27: Carvin, France IJA 57: Buffalo, New York IJC 11: Gan HaShlosha National Park (Sachne)
2003BJC 16: Brighton EJC 26: Svendborg, Denmark IJA 56: Reno, Nevada IJC 10: Gan HaShlosha National Park (Sachne)
2002BJC 15: Whitstable EJC 25: Bremen, Germany IJA 55: Reading, Pennsylvania IJC 9: Gan HaShlosha National Park (Sachne)
2001BJC 14: Cardiff EJC 24: Schiedam/Rotterdam, Netherlands IJA 54: Madison, Wisconsin IJC 8: Gan HaShlosha National Park (Sachne)
2000BJC 13: York EJC 23: Karlsruhe, Germany IJA 53: Montreal, Canada IJC 7: (Sachne)
1999BJC 12: Durham EJC 22: Grenoble, France IJA 52: Niagara Falls, New York IJC 6: Yafit, Jordan Valley
1998BJC 11: Bristol EJC 21: Edinburgh, UK IJA 51: Primm, Nevada IJC 5: Kibbutz Tuval
1997BJC 10: Nottingham EJC 20: Turin, Italy IJA 50: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania IJC 4: Hebrew University, Givat Ram, Jerusalem
1996BJC 9: Edinburgh EJC 19: Grenoble, France IJA 49: Rapid City, South Dakota IJC 3: Hineni Center, Downtown Jerusalem
1995BJC 8: Norwich EJC 18: Goteburg, Sweden IJA 48: Las Vegas, Nevada
1994BJC 7: Manchester EJC 17: Hagen, Germany IJA 47: Burlington, Vermont
1993BJC 6: Birmingham EJC 16: Leeds, UK IJA 46: Fargo, North Dakota
1992BJC 5: Coventry EJC 15: Banyoles, Spain IJA 45: Montreal, Canada
1991BJC 4: Leeds EJC 14: Verona, Italy IJA 44: St Louis, Missouri
1990BJC 3: Exeter EJC 13: Oldenburg, Germany IJA 43: Los Angeles, California IJC --: Eilat
1989BJC 2: Bath EJC 12: Maastricht, Netherlands IJA 42: Baltimore, Maryland IJC 2: Eilat
1988BJC 1: London EJC 11: Bradford, UK IJA 41: Denver, Colorado IJC 1: Eilat
1987EJC 10: Saintes, France IJA 40: Akron, Ohio
1986EJC 9: Castellar, Spain IJA 39: San Jose, California
1985EJC 8: Louvain la Neuve, BelgiumIJA 38: Atlanta, Georgia
1984EJC 7: Frankfurt, GermanyIJA 37: Las Vegas, Nevada
1983EJC 6: Laval, FranceIJA 36: Purchase, New York
1982EJC 5: Copenhagen, DenmarkIJA 35: Santa Barbara, California
1981EJC 4: London, UKIJA 34: Cleveland, Ohio
1980EJC 3: London, UKIJA 33: Fargo, North Dakota
1979EJC 2: Newport-on-Tay, UKIJA 32: Amherst, Massachusetts
1978EJC 1: Brighton, UKIJA 31: Eugene, Oregon
1977IJA 30: Newark, Delaware
1976IJA 29: Los Angeles, California
1975IJA 28: Youngstown, Ohio
1974IJA 27: Sarasota, Florida
1973IJA 26: Livingston, New Jersey
1972IJA 25: Rocky Hill, Connecticut
1971IJA 24: Rocky Hill, Connecticut
1970IJA 23: Los Angeles, California
1969IJA 22: Los Angeles, California
1968IJA 21: San Mateo, California
1967IJA 20: Fallsburg, New York
1966IJA 19: Salem, Massachusetts
1965IJA 18: Bronx, New York
1964IJA 17: Wheeling, Virginia
1963IJA 16: Wickford, Rhode Island
1962IJA 15: Erie, Pennsylvania
1961IJA 14: Bristol, Tennessee
1960IJA 13: Madison, Wisconsin
1959IJA 12: Wickford, Rhode Island
1958IJA 11: Ashtabula, Ohio
1957IJA 10: Chautauqua, New York
1956IJA 9: Norwalk, Ohio
1955IJA 8: Lancaster, Pennsylvania
1954IJA 7: Elkhart, Indiana
1953IJA 6: Erie, Pennsylvania
1952IJA 5: Altoona, Pennsylvania
1951IJA 4: Williamsport, New York
1950IJA 3: Jamestown, New York
1949IJA 2: Jamestown, New York
1948IJA 1: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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Notes

  1. This list was compiled from data [ permanent dead link ] provided by Mike Armstrong at UK_Jugglers

References

  1. "EJC 2023". EJC 2023 Lublin, Poland. Retrieved 2023-04-21.