ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Circus arts and paragliding culture may not have much in common, but people will get to experience both and much more at the Aire Craft Festival.
It’s a four-day free festival celebrating circus, street arts, live performances, and outdoor film in downtown Issaquah.
Mick Holsbeke has been performing in contemporary circus for the last 25 years. He has performed all over Western Europe and had dreams of bringing street theater festivals to the United States.
“One of our partners, Visit Issaquah, commissioned a feasibility study to explore what we could do as a paragliding festival that could combine arts. And when I heard about it, I offered, hey, I would really love to do something like that,” Holsbeke said. “I also expanded the vision to really focus on street arts, which includes circus, theater, dance, movement, visual arts, anything that’s performative in public space and arts focused.”
That’s how the Aire Craft Festival was born, and now it’s taking place starting Thursday night with an opening ceremony and an outdoor cinema night.
“We have a combination of some local history films from the Issaquah History Museum, and we also have some other more international films from folks around the world who are excited to share films with us,” Holsbeke said.
People can enjoy a parade, circus shows, live music, food trucks, visual art workshops, and much more. The celebration combines Issaquah’s deep roots in paragliding with Holsbeke’s passion for circus arts.
As part of a tax grant from the city of Issaquah, they have launched a digital passport program, which is a rewards program. It allows participants to sign up for free, and then they can visit some of the local businesses and organizations in downtown Issaquah.
“The grand prize for the winner of that is a tandem paragliding flight with Northwest Paragliding. So, there’s a lot of other great prizes, like pictures to the big cinema or improv classes,” Holsbeke said.
The festival itself is free, but they are taking donations and are looking for volunteers. For more information about the festival, click here.
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