Artists

At the spearhead of Taiwan’s vibrant indigenous music movement Abus draws on her Amis & Bunun ancestry infused with the pulse of one of Asia’s leading creative hotspots, Taipei. Nominated for 6 music awards in Taiwan’s Golden Melody awards Abus will share a set of songs across the diversity of her career grounded in her Indigenous perspective.

FURIOSO is a study of fragility as a condition of the contemporary world: a physical act that becomes a poetic gesture, a leap into the void in which the community sees itself reflected. It is a run-up before the launch, a liberating explosion, a form of collective survival. A broken, evanescent, epiphanic body exposes itself to the gaze, changes within its very presence, and carries all of its contradictions. Like Ariosto’s poem, this body too is polyphonic, crossed by divergent forces, overlapping identities, and desires that generate fractures and new possibilities.

National premiere.

C.A.F.É. (Coletivo Afro-tropical de Fusão Étnica) is a multicultural music group made up of musicians from Brazil, Angola, Italy and Greece. They offer an afro-tropical musical journey, blending rhythms that range from Cuba to Cape Verde, passing through Brazil and Angola.

A big elephant walks firm and majestic on the city. He walks with a guide and carer person and goes over around the world encouraging respect for the animals and nature. Its elegant walk to the rhythm of the Hindu music, will take you to the jungle where he was born.

With the support of Institut Ramon Llull.

Captain Palacinca and the cunning Jock, wandering far and wide across the world, have gathered extraordinary exotic beasts and mastered incredible magical skills and circus techniques. Trained rodents, pyrotechnic acrobatics, illusionism, enchanted reptiles, Japanese arts, mentalism… These are just some of the acts packed into the suitcase of these two adventurers, who present a varied and utterly unpredictable variety show.

OFF show.

Cho Kairin’s performance is rooted in a traditional art form with a history spanning thousands of years, combining acrobatics, stage performance, juggling, transformation, and more. He brings this tradition to life in a refined and contemporary performance for audiences around the world.

B.O.B.A.S., Beneficial Orchestral Band for Burial Acts, is a small musical band devoted to funeral ceremonies. This time, neither the vicar nor the deceased arrives: while waiting, the three musicians share with family and friends a moment as awkward as it is disastrous.

La vertigine del desiderio is the work in progress of Giacomo Costantini’s new solo performance. An intimate and ambitious piece that blends circus, theatre, and magic to explore the human nature of desire.

Preview. Recommended age: +8.

La Piedra de Madera is a shared space, where scenes follow one another and transform through the collaboration of everyone involved. A transgenerational experience that uses the circus languages of balance, trust and comedy to create encounters between people. Could it be that, in life, we must learn how to make stones dance? And perhaps realise that if we share the weight, even the biggest stones can become light?

With the support of Institut Ramon Llull.

From Toronto, Canada, David Celia is an innovative songwriter and astonishing guitar player, known for his spontaneously driven live performances. He tours frequently across Canada/Europe including Glastonbury Festival. 
David is joined by his band, including sons Marcus and Lucas for this tour. Together, they sing catchy, “Feel good but think” songs with 3-part harmony, playing many musical improvisations.

Dub Lab Interceptor Hi-Fi is a sound system crew from Pennabilli and has been curating the Dub Garden since 2014. They will light up the space with four explosive nights dedicated to Reggae and Dub music and culture, joined by loyal local selectors Spiritual Youth and Red Roots.

A performance that explores the complexity of human relationships, highlighting both their wonderful uniqueness and their inherent difficulty. The artists on stage are bound to one another by a simple yet powerful physical connection: their hair is woven together into a single braid. Is this bond an irritating limitation, or a rare advantage?

Performance selected through the Trampolino Vetrina 2025 open call by A.C.C.I., as part of the Pills action within the Circ_Up 3.0 project.

A lively and engaging show! With hilarious gags, hula hoop, handstands and acrobatics, these eccentric performers will leave children and adults alike wide-eyed with wonder. An unmissable cabaret show!

OFF show.

Electro Fiabe. Processione dei Cattivi Animali is a multimedia theatre performance that combines etymological fables, ritual illustration and live music. Eight words from the “moral” lexicon — such as rogue, swindler, thief, trickster — are explored through their etymological origins and transformed into anthropomorphised animals. Each creature carries a story that reinterprets wickedness as complexity, fragility and survival.

National premiere and co-production with Ass. culturale Ultimo Punto.

A human figure, inhabited by an inner urgency and intent on following the flow of its own thoughts, is enclosed within a greenhouse-cage that becomes a “gestational chamber” of the self. For this to happen, this figure must take time — an essential and indispensable element in every gestation. Is it possible to let oneself be crossed by that infinite tension, nourished by the contradictions of the human soul, which constitutes the essence of every existence?

Eve Nikolao is a Samoan multi-instrumentalist, singer, and performer whose work draws deeply from the musical traditions of her fa'asinomaga – her islander heritage. Winner of Samoan idol, Eve’s first album followed leading to an international, musical career. Eve will share an intimate musical perspective grounded in one of the Pacific’s most vibrant cultures. 

Flaira Ferro is a singer, songwriter and art educator from Pernambuco, known for her contribution to Brazilian music with a fusion of regional and modern rhythms. With a career marked by performances at renowned festivals and collaborations with leading artists, Flaira is one of the rising voices of Northeastern music.

A carnival of delights, featuring dancing horses, maypole mayhem, revolving doors, magical doves and potato juggling. A cavalcade of comedy full of ridiculous routines where old school vaudeville meets new school clown from this world-class village idiot. After a glittering career in menswear Fraser Hooper gave it all up to become a clown. Thirty five years on his unique brand of award winning comedy has delighted thousands of audiences worldwide.

Manin and Manon amaze audiences with their skill: two incredible characters capable of performing juggling and acrobatic acts better than any human being. He is not only a juggler, but also a one-man band and a fire-eater; she is a tightrope walker and much more besides. When the spotlight comes on, the audience is drawn into a miniature fantastical world where everything seems possible and real.

Recommended age: +3. 

Expo sculture in movimento (Exhibition of Moving Sculpture) is a collection of automated puppets from 5 continents, 7 small theaters, 7 distant and related places on the journey inside the cloister museum. Between the exhibition and the performance, the audience is invited into an ancient and surprising world of animated figures.

Recommended age: +3.

La Strizzacervelli di Piazza (The Street Therapist) transforms public space into a place for sharing surreal and symbolic visions. Out of knots and questions, unexpected encounters arise: the performer listens and responds with gestures, words, and poetic actions. Between play and irony, our small everyday monsters begin to emerge, along with the possibility of rewriting, together, the stories that inhabit us.

OFF show.

Hodmadoddery draw on the British festival tradition with an acoustic folk sound centred on the harmony of voices and guitars. Rather than simply playing familiar songs, they create an atmosphere all their own, shaped by years of performing on the streets and at festivals in Italy and back home. Their approach remains proudly purist, but always with an easy, relaxed spirit.

Kalabazi tells the story of a young woman who, with one free hour before leaving, decides to use it in a rather unusual way: by getting married! But not to just anyone. She organises a love contest to discover who, among the audience, might be the ideal groom. The show skilfully blends clowning, circus, and poetry, taking spectators on an emotional journey filled with uproarious laughter and moments of pure poetry.

OFF show.

Kamchàtka presents a participatory experience, an encounter that goes beyond borders, a poetic statement, a tribute to the courage of all those who have left their homes in search of a new place. An open rehearsal, born out of an artistic residency, taking shape as an immersive, participatory and nocturnal performance.

Preview. With the support of Institut Ramon Llull. 

Celebrating 40 years of music and 15 years of performances in Pennabilli, King Ben and his Rhythm Sticks bring together five versatile musicians with a boundless love of live performance. From Mbaqanga to rock ’n’ roll, from jazz to funk, their concerts are a lively mix of musicality, joy and pure entertainment.

This year, the band King Ben and his Rhythm Sticks celebrates its 40th anniversary and marks 15 years of performances in Pennabilli. Five spirited musicians with an extraordinary versatility, they move effortlessly across musical styles, from Mbaqanga to rock ’n’ roll, from jazz to funk. Musicality, joy, and entertainment come together in the vibrant and surprising sound of this eclectic ensemble.

The band members are:
Ben Kleiss – saxophone, vocals
Jaap van der Voet – keyboards
Mark Dries – guitar
Robert Ficker – bass, double bass, vocals (with a special focus on Spanish folk repertoire)
Oscar Brocades Zaalberg – drums
 

The fusion of Argentine and Peruvian traditions gives life to a circus performance with live music, where complicity with the audience shapes every moment. This duo presents itself as a vibrant cocktail: original juggling, one-woman-band energy, and sharp comedy, punctuated by unexpected moments that surprise and enchant. The result is a cocktail of emotions that leaves no one indifferent.

OFF performance.

Rapsodia Negra is a circus and live music performance that celebrates metamorphosis as a poetic act. A one-woman band transforms and takes flight as a black crow, moving through humor, body, and emotion across the thin line between chaos and beauty.

OFF show.

Sonora Camote is a show that blends juggling, object manipulation and humour into a visual and interactive experience suitable for all ages. Accompanied by music inspired by Peruvian rhythms and traditions, it invites audiences to marvel and laugh through play, improvisation and surprise. An encounter where chaos gives way to order to the beat of rhythm and imagination.

OFF show.

Los Albertos begin their gigs instantly running, leading the audience with fast paced dance sounds and taking them to a break-neck and frenzied climax leaving you dazed, exhausted and happy.

Melon, Mardi and Rossinyol face an unexpected conflict. Their untamed and clumsy nature and the need to exist take them to an improbable show, where they freely explore any atrocity. This hilarious and terrifying experience transmits the story of a truthful and rough friendship, caused by a sense of responsibility and of guilt. An improbable crime, a suspicious trial and an absurd punishment. As a paradox, they might cause the desire to die from laughter.

With the support of Institut Ramon Llull. Recommended age: +10.

The doors of the villa open. The guests become both witnesses and accomplices in a praise of the absurd, a journey where time flows without ever passing, luxury is a prison, and boredom is an art. A poetic, sarcastic, and profoundly useless performance. Like life, at times.

Recommended age: +6.

A violinist, two tailcoats, and sooooo many bows: everything seems ready for a flawless concert… if only seriousness were really his strong suit. His eccentric and rebellious character, interpreting music in an imaginative and engaging way, drives him to express himself outside the patterns imposed by society.

OFF show. Recommended age: +10.

A real celebration that draws in children and adults alike in a paroxysm of bubbles, sarcasm, and audience interaction. Bubbles, music, and razor-sharp jokes are the ingredients of an unforgettable show.

Five women explore old age as a presence already inscribed in the body. Through circus, dance, and object manipulation, they engage with prostheses, masks, and limbs that merge with their bodies. Between humour and loss of control, bodies mutate, tremble, and transform. Old age emerges as an intimate dimension already contained within the body: a shadow, a ghost foretelling what is to come.

National premiere. Recommended age: +8.

Pyrotechnic in his approach to the audience, who love him from the very first moment, Otto is a brilliant and highly likeable clown, dressed as the ringmaster of an improbable and mysterious circus. He presents acts of genuine bizarreness, drawing the audience into his crazy stage adventures.

Ponzio Pilates is a musical project born in 2015 with a strong focus on live music, both performed and/or improvised, blending a variety of influences—from world music to fast afro-beat, from Japanese city pop to acoustic techno. After ten formative years of live performances, including appearances at festivals such as Glastonbury and Sziget, during which the band developed its own distinctive sound, the project has now taken on a new form as a trio.

Recommended age: +16.

An eco-carousel with eight black horses made from recycled materials moves without a motor, powered only by pedals. At the centre, the carousel operator sets it in motion on his bicycle and accompanies the young riders through games, entertainment, and a fantastic ride.

The musical repertoire of Ruben Rojo y Pennabilli Social Club has always been inspired by traditional South American music with quotes and excursions into other genres. The group is characterized by the voice and charge of Ruben, who always manages to involve and drag the audience, flanked by GIldo Montanari, accordionist from Pennabilli, and Pedro Cipriano Mena Peraza, Cuban percussionist.

An Aztec ritual of pure primordial energy. The Mexican artist blends the power of his live percussion — amplified through a loop station — with hypnotic tribal dance and unmatched mastery of fire.

Recommended age: +3.

Can the audience make a new community in just 60 mins? Geoff, the social cohesion officer, is here to find out. And he needs your help. Fun, moving and uplifting; Community Service is a unique experience that brings people together, spreads collective joy and turns the onlookers into the entertainment.

OFF show. Recommended age: +8.

How can we rise to the climate challenge as theatre & music creators? One Ocean is the latest production of Small Island Big Song, an ambitious global collaboration confronting the most pressing issue of our age. Uniting their traditions of trance and ritual, five islander artists lead the audience on an epic musical dramaturgy, traversing beauty, loss, anger and hope, intimate personal testimonies & massed voices, all created in communities over ten years across sixteen island nations.

Tankus bring a visceral, theatrical rock’n’roll to the stage, driven by live-wire energy, a countercultural attitude, and a powerful performative spirit. With echoes of Tom Waits and rougher, more contemporary sounds, their concerts are overwhelming experiences, drawing the audience into an intense and liberating show.

From Madagascar Sammy is the definition of a world music legend, having emerged onto the scene with his band Tarika Sammy in the 1990’s when TIME magazine listed them among the Top Ten Bands in the World, alongside U2. Now in his sixties, he retains a youthful spirit, and mastery over Madagascar’s rich musical heritage, don’t miss a chance to hear instruments and songs rarely heard on the world stage.

Can beauty, art, poetry, and dreams, brought into the square and shared, inspire all of us toward even the smallest change? Can a work of art be a small piece of revolution, striving toward peace and the wonder of human coexistence, allowing us to glimpse it through the lens of childhood? These are the questions at the heart of Teatro dei Venti’s new work, a production for urban spaces based on Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Preview.

At last, an oasis of peace, a place where you can recover the calm you have been longing for, relaxing your breath, freeing yourself from thoughts, and activating muscles you never knew you had. You will leave this experience regenerated in body and spirit, finding a perfect balance with the Whole, a connection with the Universe. Your mind will be refreshed, your face rejuvenated, your skin toned, a new energy will run through you… In just a few minutes, you will achieve incredible results that no one else can guarantee. Visit Subtropicana — do it for yourself!

Tolstoys are a Berlin-based psychedelic rock band drawing on Slavic and Celtic folklore. Shaped by years of touring across the UK, Germany, and Eastern Europe, their live shows are built on deep connection, within the band and with the audience, creating an intense, freeing atmosphere charged with raw energy. With three studio albums and a sound that blends ritual, psychedelia, and live intensity, Tolstoys offer a powerful and immersive concert experience.

National premiere.

A clown show that intertwines physical theatre, play and scenic invention in a poetic and surreal universe. With just a few elements and a direct relationship with the audience, Clown Tomate brings to life absurd balloon-made characters, transforming stumbles, doubts and failures into comedy, tenderness and wonder. An unpredictable and deeply human performance, capable of making us laugh while also touching our vulnerability.

Two figures suspended in space and time, trapped in the expectation of nothingness. A calm and visionary dialogue that recalls the absurdity of Waiting for Godot, lit by flashes of grotesque irony and disorientation. Intertwining their voices is a surreal radio DJ, broadcasting on the lysergic and irreverent frequencies of DK Radio. The result is a tragicomic journey, where the end turns into celebration: because even a funeral is an occasion to be celebrated.

A wordless puppet performance that blends mechanics, engineering, and storytelling. Set inside a medieval castle brought to life by intricate wooden mechanisms, the show follows the wedding of a king’s daughter disrupted by a sudden attack from the ancient crow-warriors, the Kuthi. A visually rich and surprising performance, full of hidden rooms, catapults, twists, and handmade wooden characters.

OFF show. Recommended age: +8. 

Hôtel Crab tells the story of a hotel where nothing ever happens, until the arrival of a new guest. Unexpected events break the monotony of this very unusual place. A theft committed at midnight catches everyone by surprise and, from that moment on, the fate of every character changes.

With the support of Institut Ramon Llull.

In the silence, when Tsubasa Watanabe begins to dance with his diabolo, the contourless souls melt together like the drifting fog there, and a unique session begins with everything that is there. It is the form in which the spectacle is enveloped by the spectators who happen to be there that creates the momentary contours of the city, and at the centre of it all, the voices of souls who face their fears and fears of life and burn with passion will be heard in the form of poetry.

OFF show.

Venolta is a fall festival born three years ago from the collaboration of Ultimo Punto and Chiocciola la casa del nomade with the aim of reclaiming the ancient rural dance style. To succeed in our intent, we will integrate into the programming of Artisti in Piazza a small foray of Venolta's content and make it available to the festival audience, with educational workshops and the involvement of local musicians, elderly players, the festival audience, accompanied by  "Viva el Ball!".

A shaman, a singer, a dancer, horn players and percussionists invite us to join this pagan celebration, infused with rock’n’roll roots, the Occitan language and organic sounds. These eleven intriguing characters, with their unusual musical instruments made from calabashes, bring the world of carnival straight from the earth onto the stage. A ceremony, a tribute to celebration and to ancestral pagan-shamanic, carnivalesque rites.

National premiere.

The contemporary voice of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) the world’s most remote inhabited island, Yoyo Tuki brings a timely uplifting musical journey, embodying the wisdom and strength of the his ancient lineage with a contemporary musical perspective.

Poubelle è un sacchettino della spazzatura che ha sempre sognato di essere una stella, ma come si può evitare il destino delle cose? Un sacchetto della spazzatura è e sarà sempre un sacchetto della spazzatura. Poubelle accetterà il suo destino in questa tragicommedia molto comica e poco tragica, senza mai arrendersi, perché sa che nella vita, se perdi il treno, ci sarà sempre il prossimo camion della spazzatura a raccoglierti.

With the support of Institut Ramon Llull.