All Hallows Catholic High School, Penwortham
3rd to the 9th of April 2026
Special Guests
As the event approaches we will be regularly revealing more of this year's special guests; talented jugglers and circus artists from around the world who will be both performing and running workshops.
Callum Baker
Callum has been juggling and performing internationally with hoops for over 10 years. Over that time he has developed his style which is a combination of technical juggling, body roll tricks and hula hoop inspired manipulation. Known mainly for his duo and trio work with Lisa Ellipse and Cameron Ford he is excited to share a solo piece with you all.
Sophia Hooping
Sophia is a world-champion hula hooper and multi–Guinness World Record holder, renowned for her mesmerising multi-hooping skills and high-impact performances. Based in the south of England, she brings magic and precision to stages around the world, captivating audiences of all ages.
Marky Jay
Marky Jay will be the compère for our Gala Show!
Mark spent the first 18 years of his life in Preston. Tonight [4th April] he makes his hopefully triumphant return. Expect the show to be hosted in a warm relaxed style, with some IKEA plate spinning thrown in for food measure. Marky has been a full time pro comedy juggler for over a decade. He mixes high level tricks with a light-hearted often anarchic style of performance.
Walid
Born in Nancy (FR), Walid is a self-taught juggler whose practice emerged from improvisation, intuition, and movement. Since the early 2000s, he has developed a personal language of club juggling where structure and chaos coexist.
In 2008, he co-founded "Le Mouvement Alerte", touring internationally and cultivating an improvised, relational approach to passing.
In 2016, he joined the "Company Nicanor de Elia" and performs in Copyleft (2018) and Juventud (2021, Jury Prize at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain 2023).
Erin Stephens
Erin Stephens is excited to return to BJC - which was her first international convention 20 years ago. Since then, she has traveled to 35 countries - performing, teaching and researching juggling. Her routine explores ball juggling combined with movement, rhythm and her own personal femininity. Erin will also be offering a presentation titled “The Sociocultural Role of Women in Juggling”.
Emma Hörnell
Emma Hörnell is a contemporary circus artist specializing in experimental hoop juggling. Her work challenges the limits of what's possible with hula hoops, blending techniques from juggling, object manipulation, clowning, and movement to create something entirely her own. In a young and evolving discipline, Emma has become a key innovator, with many of her techniques now widely used in the hoop and juggling communities. Emma has performed internationally, from Taiwan and Australia to the USA, Mexico, and across Europe. She’s worked in various ensembles, including Clowns Without Borders Sweden, and co-created shows like Sis/ter (Company Gremma) and Cirkus Överallt! (Cirkus Embo). Her mission: to elevate hula hoop juggling as a modern circus art form and expand its creative potential.
Kiki Vita
Kiki Vita will be performing his standalone show "The Spanish Gentleman Juggler" on Sunday at 12pm, more info here.
Amelia
Amelia is an award winning, multidisciplinary performer with over twenty five years of experience in the outdoor performing arts. She has worked both independently and with leading companies as an artist, theatre maker, teacher, and producer, performing in more than thirty countries worldwide. Known for her versatility and commitment, Amelia specialises in physical comedy, street theatre, and clowning. Her performances have been featured at major festivals such as La Mercè (Barcelona), Glastonbury (UK), and the Edinburgh Festival (Scotland), and she has collaborated with corporate clients including BMW, Formula 1, and IBM.
Aleš Hrdlička
Aleš Hrdlička is a Contemporary Circus performer, creator and consultant focused on magic, juggling and object manipulation.
Originally from Prague, until recently Aleš was based in the Netherlands, where he graduated from Codarts - University of the Arts in 2020 with a degree in Circus Arts.
Aleš Hrdlička has won numerous international awards such as BNG Award, CircusNext pre-selection, Czech Champion of Magic 2014-2022 and is one of the original members of the circus company Cink Cink Cirk.
In recent years he has been also creating in a dynamic duo with a Scottish Circus Artist Hannah Lennox.
As a member of the French charity organisation Magiciens du Monde, Ales is honoured to share his passion and inspiration in hospitals, schools and orphanages in third world countries.
Currently focused on contemporary performance art and theatre, Ales Hrdlicka has performed at hundreds of public and private events in locations ranging from Las Vegas and Shanghai, to most of Europe and remote corners of Africa.
Hannah Lennox
Hannah Lennox is a silly acrobat from Scotland.
Graduated from Codarts Circus Arts in 2020, in the Netherlands and continued to work in the EU.
Enjoys playing with object manipulation and handbalancing in a humorous manner.
Rarely gets the opportunity to perform in the UK post Brexit but is super happy to be back in the homeland to provide you with probably utter nonsense.
Morten
Morten is a contemporary poi artist from Denmark. He loves to research unusual tricks and to find unexpected ways to use poi. His performances combine high technical skill with dynamic movements and creative sequences.
