The Baltic Circle festivals have been organized in Helsinki since 2000, starting from 2007 annually. The festivals showcase the newest trends in contemporary theatre and serve as an important meeting place and networking platform for theatre professionals.
The Baltic Circle is dedicated to curious spectators and performing artists. There are about 1500 to 3000 visitors and participants at the festival each year.
The 8th edition of the festival Baltic Circle will take place in 2012.
Baltic Circle collaborates with focal European and local theatre festivals and production centres. The festival organizes training programmes, seminars, workshops as well as discussions and actively participates in public debates on contemporary theatre practice. Baltic Circle commissions and co-produces new work, locally and internationally. Together with HIAP – Helsinki International Artist-in-residence Programme – and Kiasma Theatre, Baltic Circle has initiated a residency project for the contemporary theatre and the performing arts, which is the first of its kind in Finland.
"ARS BALTICA is not a bureaucratic construction for political posturing, but a concept that stands for unconventional and committed collaboration in real cooperative projects." (Rainer Haarmann, former ARS BALTICA Coordinator, 1997)
