Hupstate Circus Fest
2026 SCHEDULE
September 4-7, 2026
Plan your weekend, browse performances, and find the right shows for you!
Kids Day at Ithaca Children’s Garden
4 hours of circus fun for all ages to close out the festival weekend! Now featuring Flip Fabrique, Village Circus, Flying Gravity High Mowing Circus Program, To The Moon and Back, plus learn to juggle and more. Bring a picnic!
10-11am: To the Moon and Back
11- 11:30am: FLIP Fabrique
11:30-12pm: High Mowing
12-12:30pm: FLIP Fabrique
12:30-1pm: High Mowing
1-1:30pm: Flip Fabrique
1:30-2pm: Village at Ithaca Circus, Rebel Arts Circus
This is a FREE outdoor event at the Ithaca Children's Garden.
ECDYSIS
Troy Lingelbach has saved every piece of single use plastic they have consumed over the past two years under their bed. Now, they have created a plastic playground in the woods repurposing this plastic. This immersive experience is part installation, part performance art, part dance party in the woods, filled with opportunities to connect deeply with nature, community, and self.
Gathering begins at 6:00pm. Show starts 7:15pm. More details to come.
Suggested age 18+. This show contains themes and references to drug use and may contain flashing lights.
SUMMER BREAK
Do you remember packing for summer camp for the first time alone? Of this thirst for independence? Do you remember the smell of campfires? Join FLIP Fabrique for Summer Break, a circus show that jumps in to this summer nostalgia.
This is a FREE outdoor show in the Press Bay Backlot.
Hologram - With Talk Back
Blending traditional juggling props with unusual materials, light, and illuminated objects to create optical illusions and analog 3D images.
Suggested age 8+. This show contains strobe lighting, which may not be suitable for individuals with photosensitivity.
Flying Trapeze Workshop (Sunday)
Flying Trapeze Workshop - come fly!
Open to all levels of flyers, from first timers to regular intermediates! Students are coached individually to their level.
Ice Cream Social
Ice Cream Social!
Meet up at beloved Sweet Melissa’s Ice Cream to spend time with friends new and old.
This is a FREE event.
SUMMER BREAK
Do you remember packing for summer camp for the first time alone? Of this thirst for independence? Do you remember the smell of campfires? Join FLIP Fabrique for Summer Break, a circus show that jumps in to this summer nostalgia.
This is a FREE outdoor show in the Press Bay Backlot.
Creative Group Acrobatics Workshop
This workshop teaches you a variety of different group acrobatic styles featuring Toss, Towers and Trio Tumbling. This is an advanced circus workshop hoping to push past the basics into more complicated movement pathways and surprising acrobatic outcomes!
Age minimum: 18 (email amy@hupstatecircus.org for questions/exceptions)
Hologram
Blending traditional juggling props with unusual materials, light, and illuminated objects to create optical illusions and analog 3D images.
Suggested age 8+. This show contains strobe lighting, which may not be suitable for individuals with photosensitivity.
Hupstate Hub & Gallery
Stop by the Hupstate Hub - your place for all things Hupstate! Come with your festival questions, or to purchase merch (while supplies last!).
Also home of a Modern Vaudeville Press pop-up shop and the GLING Gallery, featuring works by Emil Dahl, Kelsey Strauch, Stacey Strange, and Wes Peden; and with artwork on display by Ella Shea and Amelia Modlin.
This is a FREE event.
The Pieces
Eight interlocking ladders create towers, cranes and bridges that explore the tension between the individual and community in American society. A reminder that resilience is built collectively.
This is a FREE outdoor show on the Ithaca Commons.
Flying Trapeze - Try A Swing (SUnday)
Flying Trapeze Workshop - try a swing!
Want to try a taste of flying trapeze? Sign up for a single swing!
Spots available in advance and day of.
Avast!
A high flying family friendly nautical adventure set on a flying trapeze! Shipwrecked and lost in the middle of the ocean, a lone sailor encounters a rag-tag crew of high-flying, rope-climbing, acrobatic pirates.
This is a FREE outdoor show on the Ithaca Waldorf School grounds. ASL interpreted event
Fun Contemporary Ball Juggling Workshop (Wes Peden)
In this workshop, Wes will guide you through his unique ball juggling techniques. The workshop is a playful and uplifting environment designed to experiment together and find new joyful ways of tangling gravity, time, and objects.
Prerequisites: Participants should be able to juggle 5 balls and comfortably perform 3-ball patterns such as 531, 423, and 441.
Caravan - SUNDAY
Need a lift from show to show? The Hupstate Caravan will provide shuttle service between performances. Space is limited!
Waterfall Walk
Waterfall Walk!
Meet up at Ithaca Falls for a visit to one of the over 100 waterfalls in our area.
This is a FREE event.
Sticks & Stone
Combining aerial counterweight, puppetry, dance, atmospheric projection, and martial arts, the old proverb of sticks and stones illuminates a new question: who is the body you also are?
Suggested age 14+. This show contains themes of body dysphoria, patriarchal gender roles, and partial nudity (topless).
ATELOPUS (Wall Dancers)
ATELOPUS is a vertical dance and projection performance inspired by Ecuador’s endangered harlequin frogs, whose disappearance signals the collapse of ecosystems. As two frogs lose their habitat and transform into humans, the work becomes an urgent reflection on water, environmental destruction and the rights of nature.
This is a FREE outdoor show in Press Bay Court.
Rollercoaster by Wes Peden
Ultra-modern pop-punk juggling surrounded by a huge inflatable blue structure and accompanied by electro beats composed of distorted rollercoaster sounds.
All ages, ASL interpreted event.
Natural Causes
Company 29’s debut creation “Natural Causes” takes you on a dark and whimsical journey through the lens of circus, physical theatre, comedy, and live music.
With opening acts by youth circus artists from around the US.
Suggest age 8+, ASL interpreted event.
International Lover - SOLD OUT
Through trapeze, burlesque, and physical theatre, the artist abstracts their gender odyssey, inviting the audience into their process of self-expansion.
Suggested age 18+
The Pieces
Eight interlocking ladders create towers, cranes and bridges that explore the tension between the individual and community in American society. A reminder that resilience is built collectively.
This is a FREE outdoor show on the Ithaca Commons.
Hupstate Hub & Gallery
Stop by the Hupstate Hub - your place for all things Hupstate! Come with your festival questions, or to purchase merch (while supplies last!).
Also home of a Modern Vaudeville Press pop-up shop and the GLING Gallery, featuring works by Emil Dahl, Kelsey Strauch, Stacey Strange, and Wes Peden; and with artwork on display by Ella Shea and Amelia Modlin.
This is a FREE event.
Flying Trapeze — Try A Swing (Saturday)
Flying Trapeze Workshop - try a swing!
Want to try a taste of flying trapeze? Sign up for a single swing!
Spots available in advance and day of.
Avast!
A high flying family friendly nautical adventure set on a flying trapeze! Shipwrecked and lost in the middle of the ocean, a lone sailor encounters a rag-tag crew of high-flying, rope-climbing, acrobatic pirates.
This is a FREE outdoor show on the Ithaca Waldorf School grounds.
A Place in the Ring, Circus Documentary (with Talk back)
In this 90 minute Danish film, Katja Schumann, the world-famous circus artist and horse trainer, struggles to translate her old world into a new era. Can she pass on her way of life without losing herself? The film depicts a journey between tradition, doubt and trust.
Language is primarily Danish with UK subtitles.
Caravan - Saturday
Need a lift from show to show? The Hupstate Caravan will provide shuttle service between performances. Space is limited!
Egg, and How I Learned To Save Myself
Reckon with your past, swing by your hair into the future, and ponder the humble egg in this alluring story about self acceptance.
Suggested age 14+.
ATELOPUS (Wall Dancers)
ATELOPUS is a vertical dance and projection performance inspired by Ecuador’s endangered harlequin frogs, whose disappearance signals the collapse of ecosystems. As two frogs lose their habitat and transform into humans, the work becomes an urgent reflection on water, environmental destruction and the rights of nature.
This is a FREE outdoor show in Press Bay Court.
Opening Night Party
Join us for the Opening Night Party at the Ithaca History Center! Cider (both boozy and sober) on tap. Performances by Rik Daniels and Jared Athias outside in the Bernie Milton Pavillion from 6:30-7pm. Come see circus friends old and new!
This is a FREE event.