Best of 2025 in Regional Juggling Festivals (and Unicycling or Diabolo Events)

By JoAnn Ireland

In the spirit of recounting juggling events as we all collectively get ready to ring in the New Year, here are my highlights from the regional juggling festivals (and unicycling or diabolo championships) that I had the opportunity to attend this year. A running theme for all of these juggling festivals is that all skill levels are welcome to attend the festivals and the public is also welcome to attend the shows. Unicyclists are also welcome to attend the juggling festivals, although some festivals spaces might have restrictions on unicycling on the gym floors. There are many other juggling festivals worldwide, this “Best of 2025,” list is clearly not all-encompassing; however, if you attend a juggling festival in the future, consider submitting an article, even if it’s a brief recap to the International Jugglers’ Association’s (IJA) eJuggle, see the Contact Us section at the top of the page.

Whether it’s at next year’s IJA festival in Fort Wayne, Indiana taking place from July 27th through August 2nd, 2026 (https://festival.juggle.org), or a regional juggling festival(s) in your local area, in a town or city in a nearby state, or a location that you have always wanted to visit, I hope you take the opportunity to first and foremost juggle, watch and interact with jugglers in the gym, attend juggling and manipulation workshop(s), and appreciate the beauty and variety of juggling performances. Perhaps even perform in a show yourself – reach out to the festival organizers if you would like to perform, or offer to teach a workshop, or offer to render assistance to jugglers in another way. And now in chronological order… onto the Best of 2025 in regional juggling festivals (and unicycling or diabolo events)!

Madfest was in Madison, Wisconsin in January 2025 – Bring on the cold weather for this festival, but in all honesty, there wasn’t any snow while I attended, which probably isn’t typical, and I didn’t even have to wear the snow pants that took up valuable space in my luggage. The gym spaces at the O’Keefe Middle School and Madison Circus Space were beautiful and huge, as was the Saturday evening show Barrymore Theatre. There was even a separate gym space for unicycling or workshops, which was cool. The public show was very well put together; the most technical juggling acts were Jack Denger (balls and clubs), Christian Kloc (rings and clubs), and the MadJugglers (club passing). Iman Lizarazu also performed a novel clowning piece. The city of Madison will also keep jugglers and non-jugglers entertained while they are there. Next year’s festival is quickly coming up from Friday, January 16th through Sunday, January 18th, 2026 and the public show will feature Mark Hayward (comedy and yo-yo), Benjamin Domask-Ruh (musician and circus artist), Alex Zerbe (high energy comedy), Jay Gilligan (master juggler and visual artist), the MadJugglers (hometown club passing), Kenny Ahern (physical comedy and antics), Alli Ott (cyr wheel), and David Chervony (juggling). There will be a special evening pre-festival show, “Stories About Gravity,” by Jay Gilligan on Thursday, January 15th at the Starlight Theater (https://jaygilligan.ticketspice.com/stories-about-gravity). More information about Madfest 2026 can be found at: https://madjugglers.com/madfest-2026/

Pocono Juggle and Circus Arts Festival was in Lansford, Pennsylvania in late February / early March 2025 at the Panther Valley Junior and Senior High School with large gym and theater spaces. The most technical acts during the Saturday evening show were by Archie Ingunza (diabolos), Matt Walmsley (balls, rings, and clubs), and Jasper Murphy (clubs). Acacia Noel had two very unique and beautiful performances, the first with hula hoops and her second act with the rubber chickens / eggs / hula-hoops that in my opinion, would have been greatly appreciated by Art Jennings based on her performance that was so well thought out and had a beginning, middle, and an end. Joe Janicki also had two wonderful performances with devil sticks and poi. Comedy juggler Mike Rosman also did a wonderful job as the show emcee, interjecting his own juggling and comedy skills between the acts.

The 2026 Pocono Juggle and Circus Arts Festival is scheduled for Friday, February 27, 2026 through Sunday, March 1, 2026. More information about the Pocono Juggle and Circus Arts Festival can be found at: https://poconojugglecircusartsfest.yourwebsitespace.com.

 

RIT Juggle-In was in Rochester, New York in April 2025 at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) with a wonderful gym and very large modern theater space. There were two shows, a more informal Friday evening show with the most technical acts including: Silas (balls), Josiah Smith (balls), Kevin Hogan (balls / footbags), and Archie Ingunza (diabolos), and a Saturday evening show with the most technical juggling acts including: Alex Rozanov (balls), Jasper Murphy (clubs), and Spencer Androli (balls, rings, clubs). More information about the RIT Juggle-In can be found at: https://ritjuggle.blogspot.com.

 

Congress of Jugglers was in College Park, Maryland in May 2025 at the University of Maryland with a multipurpose gym and show space. The most technical juggling performances during the Saturday evening show included: Salih Mahammed (silicone bounce balls), Bekalu (balls), Jessica Lee (diabolos), and Matt Walmsley and Jasper Murphy (club passing). The city of College Park and the surrounding Washington DC / Maryland / Virginia area will definitely keep jugglers and non-jugglers entertained during your visit to this festival. More information about the University of Maryland Juggling Club that hosted the festival can be found at: https://umd.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/juggling-club.

 

Philadelphia Juggling Festival was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, specifically the Mt. Airy neighborhood, in June at the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts with a large non-traditional gym space and multiple separate gyms, as well as a multipurpose gym and theater space. The most technical juggling acts during the Saturday evening show were by Matt Walmsley (balls, rings, and clubs), Tim Air-Walker (clubs), Jonah Botvinick-Greenhouse (balls, rings, clubs), and Chris Hodge and Jonah Botvinick-Greenhouse (passing balls, rings, and clubs). Greg Kennedy (wooden square manipulation) and Lauren Raske (manipulation of squares / cubes made of thin pipe with flexible vertices) each performed very unique movement / manipulation pieces. Tall Ty the Circus Guy performed a very entertaining and humorous piece using a derby hat, hula hoop, a club, and a ball. The Lipman Family also presented an entertaining juggling and unicycle act.

Workshops were a huge part of this festival with over twenty scheduled workshops, any juggling festival is a great place to learn something new to add to your repertoire, but this festival clearly has gone out of its way to have numerous workshops. Next year’s festival is currently scheduled from Friday, June 12th through Sunday, June 14th, 2026. More information about the Philadelphia Juggling Festival can be found at: https://circuscampusphiladelphia.com/jugglingfestival/

North American Unicycling Convention and Championships (NAUCC) was in Rochester Hills, Michigan in July at multiple venues in the Detroit suburb. Unicycle competitions included: freestyle (individual, group, and x-style), muni (mountain unicycle) races (cross country, uphill, downhill, and cyclocross), road races (criterium, 10K, and marathon), team events (basketball and hockey), track (100m, 400m, 800m, one-foot, slalom, and wheel walk), and urban (flatland, flatX2, jumps – high and long, street, and trials). The 2026 North American Unicycling Convention and Championships will be hosted by the CalPoly Unicycle Club in San Luis Obispo, California. More information about the Unicycling Society of America (USA) and the NAUCC can be found at: https://uniusa.org and https://www.unicyclenationals.com.

USA Diabolo Competition (USADC) was in Metuchen, New Jersey at the Sportsplex at Metuchen in August. Jugglers are welcome to attend; however, this is a very diabolo competition event, so plan to watch the amazing individual and team technical diabolo skills. The diabolo competitions were for individuals (under 14, 14 – 17, and over 18 years old), teams (under 18, and over 18 years old). There was also a “1v1 Battle” competition. A special invited guest for 2025 included Ching-Yuan Tang of Taiwan. Ching-Yuan Tang won the silver medal in the January 2025 44th Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain as part of the team Fly. More information about the USA Diabolo Association (USADA) and its competition can be found at: https://www.usadiaboloassociation.org.

NYC Unicycle Festival (NYC Unifest) was in New York City in August, specifically at the open air Pier 76 conveniently close to Manhattan’s Moynihan Train Hall, NY Penn Station, and the Port Authority Bus Terminal making it very easy to get there while bringing juggling props and a unicycle. There were also separate distance rides in Manhattan and Brooklyn leading into the weekend. This event is organized by the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus and jugglers are definitely welcome to attend. There are plenty of opportunities to learn to ride a unicycle at this festival, so if you don’t have a unicycle yet, but you want to learn, this is a great festival to do that. The most entertaining acts included Sem Abrahams (scissors-lift unicycle), Randy Kato (cyr wheel), and Jefferson Freire (balls, clubs, giraffe unicycle, and violin). It goes without saying, in New York City there is plenty to keep jugglers and non-jugglers entertained during your visit to this festival; Pier 76 is also conveniently close to Hudson Yards. More information about the NYC Unifest four-day festival can be found at: http://nycunifest.com.

Cleveland Circus and Juggling Festival was at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in Cleveland, Ohio in October. While this juggling festival had the lowest attendance that I went to this year, the Adelbert gym space was great (without air conditioning the gym appeared to work out for everyone) and had such incredible history considering the 1981 IJA convention was there. The theater also offered the opportunity to see the performances close-up and what a show it was. The most technical acts included: Josiah Smith (balls), Jasper Murphy (balls and LED clubs), and Abby Brodsky (yo-yo). Julie Wallace presented a beautiful LED hula-hoop piece, the CWRU Aerial Arts Club also demonstrated extensive skills on silks, and Emily Ann and Ben performed a solid duo chair balance act. CWRU Juggling Club members also showed off their skills with juggling balls, clubs, machetes, diabolos, and the kendama. Members of the CWRU Juggling Club are also available to perform at local events within the Cleveland area, as these performances help to fund activities like this festival. CWRU will be celebrating 200 years in 2026 and there’s plenty to see and do in Cleveland, making it an even more exiting time to attend this festival in 2026. More information about the CWRU Juggling Club can be found at: https://community.case.edu/juggling/home/.

Fluggleburgh (Flow Arts Juggle Pittsburgh) was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in November at a beautiful multipurpose gym and show space, the Kingsley Association recreation center. The most technical acts during the Saturday evening show were Jasper Murphy (LED clubs) and Avi Kritzman (foot juggling). Dan and Major Scales (juggling combination tricks), MK Lebeaux (artistic manipulation), and Quadruple Kerfuffle (general audience relatable juggling / acrobatics) also performed very unique acts. Workshops were a huge part of this festival with over twenty scheduled workshops and this festival clearly has gone out of its way to have numerous workshops; it’s one of the best festivals to learn something new. Pittsburgh also has lots of great places to eat within the festival area and things to do within a few miles for jugglers and non-jugglers. The Fluggleburgh festival organizers are actively seeking out show performers and workshop leaders. More information about Fluggleburgh can be found at: https://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/juggle/festival/.

Best of Regional Juggling Festivals 2025

Finally, more extensive descriptions of the aforementioned 2025 regional juggling festivals, as well as the unicycle and diabolo conventions and championships can be found at the following links should you want more information about the events, the performers, the festival organizers, suggested diversions to keep you and/or non-jugglers further entertained in the immediate area, and travel options. Clearly the two regional juggling festivals in Pennsylvania (Philadelphia Juggling Festival and Fluggleburgh) have gone out of their way to set the bar for having the most juggling workshops; they’re each a force to be reckoned with. I hope this article serves a resource for you to start thinking about your travel plans to get out to some of the regional juggling festivals (and unicycle and diabolo conventions and championships) in 2026 and beyond!

– Madfest 2025 Juggling Festival
https://www.juggle.org/madfest-2025-juggling-festival-review/

– Pocono Juggle and Circus Arts Festival in Lansford, Pennsylvania
https://www.juggle.org/pocono-juggle-and-circus-arts-festival-in-lansford-pennsylvania/

– 45th Annual RIT Juggle-In
https://www.juggle.org/45th-annual-rit-juggle-in-review/

– 31st Congress of Jugglers at the University of Maryland
https://www.juggle.org/31st-congress-of-jugglers-at-the-university-of-maryland/

– Philadelphia Juggling Festival 2025
https://www.juggle.org/philadelphia-juggling-festival-2025-review/

– North American Unicycle Convention and Championships 2025 in Rochester Hills, Michigan
https://www.juggle.org/recap-north-american-unicycle-convention-and-championships-2025-in-rochester-hills-michigan/

– USA Diabolo Association Competition 2025 in Metuchen, New Jersey
https://www.juggle.org/usa-diabolo-association-competition-2025-in-metuchen-new-jersey/

– New York City Unicycle Festival Labor Day Weekend 2025
https://www.juggle.org/new-york-city-unicycle-festival-labor-day-weekend-2025/

– 11th Cleveland Circus and Juggling Festival 2025
https://www.juggle.org/11th-cleveland-circus-and-juggling-festival-2025/

– Fluggleburgh Pittsburgh Circus Arts Festival 2025
https://www.juggle.org/fluggleburgh-pittsburgh-circus-arts-festival-2025-recap/