International Festival of Contemporary Circus and Theatre Letní Letná

For seventeen years Letní Letná has been setting the trends of contemporary circus in Czechia. It has become an inseparable part of the Czech and European map of cultural events. Since the very beginning the festival has been introducing the crème de la crème of the international contemporary circus. Furthermore, it tirelessly develops the local scene and helps many troupes enter the world chapiteau.

Since its founding in 2004, the festival Letní Letná presented 1 852 shows that were attended by the overall number of 467,000 spectators. The festival’s attractiveness is incessantly growing: the first edition offered 60 shows to 6,300 spectators, the last edition in 2019 then lured 90,000 spectators to as many as 190 shows. Within its fifteen year of existence, Letní Letná has grown into a stable pillar of the cultural calendar, not only in Prague but also on the national level, building up a unique profile of an event that systematically hosts the best of international contemporary circus and, at the same time, provides cultural and leisure activities to children and their families.

Letní Letná has become a solid platform presenting the work of Czech contemporary circus and theatre companies to the general public. The festival regularly features new works of such groups as Cirk La Putyka, Losers Cirque Company, Cirque Garuda and others. The charm of the event as a whole translates into massive and effective publicity for such specific projects. Besides, the festival is an important meeting point where Czech artists can approach foreign productions, serving as an enriching interface for the development of new circus as a discipline in the Czech Republic.

Furthermore, Letní Letná is a co-producer of European projects: in 2012 the festival was involved in and later successfully presented a premiere of LaCrimae (a piece bringing together the Swedish company CirkusCirkör, the French Cahin-Caha and the Czech company Cirk La Putyka). In 2014, Letní Letná became a co-producer of a project of the Belgian company Le Poivre Rose, one to feature Iva Bittová live on stage. Another coproduction followed in 2015 with Losers Cirque Company and their piece Walls & Handbags that was awarded the Theatre Journal Award in the category of Dance and Movement Theatre.

The festival also helps mediate contact between Czech artists and the international scene and therefore encourages the growth and development of the genre of contemporary circus in the Czech Republic.