Festival for contemporary circus and artistic creation for unconventional spaces

At a time when reality fragments into multiple versions of itself, LEME proposes a journey through the dimensions of illusion and transformation that reside within contemporary circus. Illusion as language, as aesthetic provocation, and as a key to reinterpreting the body, space, and perception. In this seventh edition, the festival invites artists and audiences to question what we see, what we feel, and what we believe, in a play between presence and artifice, between reality and performance.

True to its relationship with unconventional spaces and its commitment to dramaturgical innovation, LEME asserts itself as a platform for artistic creation, experimentation, and critical thinking. In 2025, it presents new works by emerging Portuguese creators, developed over the course of a year with artistic and curatorial mentoring through the Outdoor Arts Portugal creation grants. Simultaneously, it hosts a residency from the European platform IN SITU, deepening its role as an international meeting point for artistic creation in public space. Alongside these dimensions, an international programme - bold and provocative - reinforces LEME’s position as a cutting-edge festival on the European scene.

LEME PRO consolidates Ílhavo as a strategic hub for encounters between professionals from the contemporary circus and public space creation sectors. Through performances, conversations, and reflective moments, the future of the field is envisioned, artistic, curatorial and political perspectives intersect, and a critical, pluralistic community is nurtured.

Once again, Ílhavo becomes the place where these experiences take shape. Its territory and spaces - industrial, cultural, urban - host works that challenge conventional formats and bring art closer to everyday life. This relationship with place, context, and tangible reality underpins LEME’s path: a festival committed to contemporaneity, that champions creative freedom and fosters a continuous dialogue between the local and the European.

At LEME 2025, illusion is not an escape. It is a tool. A substance. An invitation to unrest - a device to imagine other worlds, and other ways of inhabiting them.