It’s that time of year again and we invite you to join us and reflect on everything the ISACS Network has accomplished in 2024.

Our vision is to be an artist-first network that champions and nurtures the growth of Ireland’s street, circus, and spectacle art forms. Our mission is to celebrate these art forms, advocate for the changes needed to help them thrive, grow our membership, and ensure the sustainability of our organisation.

Below, we highlight key achievements delivered under our four main strategic pillars: Celebrate, Grow, Advocate, and Sustain.

2024 Achievements at a Glance

This year, we continued to:

  • Strengthen relationships nationally and internationally, cultivating meaningful partnerships to advance our shared goals.
  • Support our members on diverse issues, fostering an inclusive and connected community built on care and collaboration.
  • Encourage ambitious ideas, nurturing resilience and confidence among our members.
  • Empower our community by offering opportunities for growth, creativity, and professional development.

Grow | Artist Development Programmes

DELVE

We successfully delivered the DELVE (Discover, Explore, Learn, Visualise, and Engage) programme, designed to inspire artists through exposure to festivals and events across Ireland. This year, DELVE supported 10 artists who attended the following festivals:

Residencies

ISACS delivered four flagship residency programmes in 2024, developed in partnership over the years: Jumpstart, Áras Éanna, LIFT, and NEST.

JumpStart

This two-year programme focuses on research and development in Year 1 and bringing work to fruition in Year 2.

2023/24 Artist: Ashton

Presented in partnership with Earagail Arts Festival, Cairde Sligo Arts Festival, Fidget Feet Irish Aerial Dance Festival, and supported by The Arts Council of Ireland.

ISACS & Áras Éanna Ionad Ealaíne

ISACS partnered with Áras Éanna Ionad Ealaíne for the fourth year, hosting Gill Byrneand Sadbh Grehan, for a one-month residency on Inis Oírr.

Supported by The Arts Council of Ireland.

LIFT

In partnership with Wexford Arts Centre, LIFT provided mentoring and creation space for ground-based circus artists.

Supported by Wexford County Council and The Arts Council Ireland.

NEST Programme

NEST (New Emerging Street Talent) supports Irish street artists to develop new works.

In 2024, Amadán  (NI) performed at four festivals as part of a Four Nations artists’ exchange programme with Green Man Festival (Wales), Bradford (England), and SURGE Festival (Scotland).

Bursary Awards

Each year, ISACS offers bursary awards to members for training and professional development. In 2024, we supported:

SPASA

We were delighted to offer Amy Hegarty a bursary to attend a 2 week street arts training programme in Spain.

We were also pleased that ISACS member Edaein Samuels attended Spasa independently for their own professional development.

Where Dance Meets Circus

The ISACS Network and SpringMoves Dance Festival were delighted to bring back Where Dance meets Circus in partnership with Wexford County Council and the National Opera House.

Cikada Circus came to Wexford for a 2-day event where they performed their show ‘Cikada’  and delivered a Silent Masterclass. Jude O’Neill and Eimhin Shortt participated in the initiative availing of ISACS Bursaries support.

Dark Clown Workshop with Peta Lily

In November, we opened applications for 2 ISACS members to attend the Dark Clown Workshop with Peta Lily, presented in collaboration with  Bill and Fred Productions & Circus Factory Cork.

Ro& Romi from Rather Gather will attend the workshop in January 2025 as the successful applicants.

More Bursaries

We also partnered with several festivals and organisations across Ireland to allow our members to avail of discounted rates and experience the following initiatives:

ISACS Autumn Training Session

We delivered our Training Programme 2024.

Topics included a wide range of topics emerged from the results of our Annual membership survey:

  • “Finance, Accounts and Revenue for artists & arts organisations”
  • “Governance, Management, Board”,
  • “Promotion, Communication, PR, Marketing, Social media”,
  • “International Promotion”
  • “Pricing your work”
  • “Writing Funding Applications”
  • “ISACS LIFT Residency | Info clinic”
  • “Info Clinic on Circusnext Open Call 2025”
  • “Pitch your show right and get more bookings”

The recording of our training sessions are available here→

Supported by The Arts Council of Ireland.

ISACS Hot Desk

We also hosted 5 ISACS Members on our Hot Desk Mentoring programme this year:

Celebrate, Advocate & Grow

Circus Explored initiative

In its third year, Circus Explored celebrated Cruinniú na nÓg and the Shared Island through:

  • 85 social circus workshops
  • 3 Shared Island Social Circus Exchanges
  • 6 Circus Open Days

This nationwide initiative was supported by the Creative Ireland Programme and the Shared Island Unit delivered in partnership with circus organisations across Ireland:

DIVE #3

ISACS co-hosted the third DIVE#3 programme in Waterford, in partnership with Circostrada Network and Waterford Spraoi. The four-day event explored the role of outdoor arts in society, with over 80 delegates attending, supported by Culture Ireland.

SHARE Open Forum

In November, we delivered our annual ISACS Pro Programme in Tralee at the National Circus Festival of Ireland featuring:

  • The SHARE Open Forum
  • Networking with international programmers, fostering collaborations to showcase ISACS artists across Europe in 2025.

Future Producers

The Future Producers 2024 programme was led by Promenade, in collaboration with Fidget Feet, Split Second (UK), National Circus Festival of Ireland, with funding from the Arts Council’s Capacity Building Support Scheme.

We partnered with Promenade to present at Future Producers events as part of the National Circus Festival of Ireland and at Pitch’d Festival – offering 1-on-1 mentoring sessions, round table discussions and talks about our sector.

Advocacy

Insurance, Pre-Budget & Election Hustings Campaigns

  • Insurance Reform: Representing our sector as part of the Alliance for Insurance Reform.
  • Pre-Budget Submissions: Supporting the National Campaign for the Arts’ call for sustained arts funding and the Retain, Extend, Expand Basic Income for the Arts campaign.
  • Election Hustings: Generating video content to advocate for the arts ahead of Ireland’s 2025 election.

ISACS Presence at Events across the island of Ireland

We attended the following festivals/arts events among others:

  • St Patrick Festival Parade
  • Festival of Fools
  • Carlow Arts Festival
  • County Wexford Business Awards
  • SpringMoves Dance Festival
  • Cruinniú na nÓg at Dublin Circus Project
  • Cairde Sligo Arts Festival
  • Irish Aerial Dance Festival
  • Earagail Arts Festival
  • Spraoi Festival
  • Pitch’d Street Arts and Circus Festival
  • Dublin Fringe Festival
  • Dublin Theatre Festival
  • National Circus Festival of Ireland
  • Irish Youth Circus Gathering
  • Macnas Parade

Presentations, Conferences and Trainings

We delivered two presentations at Wexford Library:

Our Director Lucy Medlycott was a key panelist in the online conference Irish Circus and Performance: From Heritage to Practice  organised byIrish Society for Theatre  Research.

We have also participated in the following events and trainings:

  • Amplify Campaign Presentation
  • Performing Arts Forum Sligo Gathering
  • The Wheel Pre-Budget Submission
  • National Campaign for the Arts Pre Budget Submission
  • National Campaign for the Arts Election Hustings
  • Wexford Chamber of Commerce Networking Event
  • Creative Ireland and Wexford County Council Info Session
  •  Shared Island Dialogues by the Government of Ireland
  • Safe to Create Trainings
  • We Act Campaign, LEO Wexford & The Wheel Training on Communications
  • Carmichael Training on Annual Report

Further ISACS International Presence

ISACS continued to be a core member of the Circostrada Network and other international platforms, building and deepening our many international relations.

 Through Culture Ireland’s See Here programme, 8 Irish showcases were developed in festivals all around the world.

We were also delighted to partner with Earagail Arts Festival, Cairde Sligo Arts Festival, and Fira Tàrrega on the new, exciting, International Residency supported by The Arts Council of Ireland’s International Residency Investment Scheme. ISACS artists Rob Heaslip and Kristyn Fontanella, who focus on creating work in outdoor spaces, have been working on a collaborative programme over the last 12 months with Catalan artists Joan Català and Kamchatka to develop their artistic practice in an international exchange taking place in Catalunya, Sligo, and Donegal over 2024.

Furthermore, we have attended the following International events:

  • Circostrada’s AGM at Tête-À-Tête Festival in Germany
  • Fira Tàrrega – with over 20 Irish delegates, hosting a Positioning Ireland event to talk about how to collaborate with street and circus artists of Ireland.
  • Ciclop Festival in Mallorca – presenting an Irish Focus organised in partnership with Centre d’Investigació Escènica and with support from Culture Ireland.

Contributed to European Publications such as:

Sustain

In 2024, ISACS secured and diversified our funding streams through the generous support:

  • The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon
  • Creative Ireland
  • Culture Ireland
  • The Heritage Council
  • Wexford County Council
  • Creative Europe Desk Ireland – Culture Office
  • RISE Foundation
  • British Council in Ireland

enabling:

  • Retention and extension of our core team to three full-time and two part-time roles.
  • Collaboration with over 20 freelancers to deliver projects and programmes.

We remain committed to nurturing meaningful connections, empowering our members, and advancing Ireland’s street, circus, and spectacle arts on the national and international stage.