5-Day Handstand Festival Valencia — September 2026
Sept 15–19€400
Secure Your Spot

Handstand Fiesta · 32 Workshops, 8 Blocks

Five days
of pure
handstands.

A week of masterclasses taught by a diverse international faculty — no single style, no single voice. Train under several different teachers and leave with more tools than you came with. Eight teachers, 32 workshops, five days in Valencia.

September 15–19, 2026 · Tue–Sat
Espai de Circ, Valencia, Spain
All levels welcome Small groups Vegan meals & show night

Teaching this edition

MJMau Jara NVNati Velez LMLuis Mantilla JTJulieta Tissera PLPepo Llabrés JGJavier Garrido VAVaso Anastopoulou EDEamonn Doran + more TBA

Small groups by design — previous editions sold out.

A full week. Everything covered.

32

Workshops, 8 blocks

Several sessions running at once per block. Choose the one that fits your level.

Multiple levels, every block

Beginner through Advanced plus Open-Level, run in parallel across the week.

5

Vegan lunches

Hearty daily lunches, snacks, unlimited coffee — plus Valencian Paella on the final day.

All equipment included

Mats, canes, blocks provided. Full access to Espai de Circ's professional facilities.

+

Warm-ups & prep

Daily group warm-ups, pre-hab and conditioning built into every morning.

📸

Outdoor jams & photos

Professional photoshoots at Valencia's parks, beaches and most iconic spots.

Small groups, always — real coaching, not a crowd.

Every level. Covered.

Multiple levels run in parallel across every workshop block, all five days.

01

Beginner

Can't yet hold a freestanding handstand. Building kick-up, wall balance and foundations.

02

Intermediate

Can handstand freestanding. Working on consistency, shapes and entries.

03

Advanced

Working towards or holding a one-arm. Exploring presses, canes and shapes.

OL

Open level

Community-focused, creative and expressive. All practitioners welcome.

Sign Up — Find Your Level

Small groups, every level — that's the whole point.

More than just training

The September edition is the full experience — training, restoration, performance and community built into the week.

Yoga / Flexibility & Warm-Up sessions

Integrated into the daily structure to complement handstand training with mobility and recovery.

Thai massage

Restorative Thai massage sessions available to aid recovery and keep you training strong across the full five days.

Show night

A vibrant community show night — share your work, watch others perform, celebrate the week together.

Valencian Paella

A traditional Valencian Paella on the final day — an authentic local experience to close out the festival.

What you can learn this week

A snapshot of topics offered across the 32 workshops — your sessions are drawn from this pool and structured to build progressively across the week.

Mastering the basics — straddle, full, tuck
Moving from wall to freestanding
Mastering kick-up to handstand
Press to handstand
One arm press
Alignment — chasing the perfect line
Handstand entries
Creative entries and exits
Handstand flows & sequences
Blocks as a handstand tool
Introduction to canes
Rotation on canes
Flexibility for handbalancers
Shoulder opening & flexibility
Handstand conditioning
Injury prevention & physical preparation
Road to one-arm handstand
Advanced one-arm skills
Unusual one-arm basic shapes
One arm hops
Arm balances — crow, croc & other shapes
Duo & group shapes
Acro handstand
Hand to hand
Creative & expressive handstands
Scorpion handstand
Crossed arms & twisted shapes
Chin to chest — looking around in handstand
Handstand pike / seven
Mexican
Figa
Knot
Flags and sidebends
Transitions
How to structure & develop your practice

+ many more across the 32 workshops

Sign Up Now

Who's teaching this year

Eight teachers, five days, every level covered. Here's who's on the floor with you in September.

MJ

Mau Jara

Costa Rica

A professional handbalancer with over 20 years in the discipline. Starting as a floor acrobat, Mau became a pioneering handstand specialist in Costa Rica, developing his own training method and performing with contemporary circus company Punto Muerto. Since moving to Europe in 2016 he's taught at Instituto Nacional de Artes do Circo in Portugal and as a guest teacher at Fontys Circus and Performance Art in the Netherlands.

VA

Vaso Anastopoulou

Greece

Came to hand balancing at 26 — a late start that quickly became a defining path. After two years of intensive training, she deepened her practice at a circus school in Portugal under the mentorship of Mau Jara, going on to build a professional career across Italy and Spain. For Vaso, hand balancing is a practice of presence — strength, precision and sensitivity meeting at once.

PL

Pepo Llabrés

Mallorca, Spain · @pepo.hbl

A Spanish handbalancer and physiotherapist who loves training and traveling the world to share his passion for handstands. He trained online for several years under Desko Amat before seeking out different teachers to broaden his perspective. His physiotherapy background and love of biomechanics shape his teaching style — always digging into the detail of different bodies.

JG

Javier Garrido

@garrydo_epic

Performs on a 2-metre pedestal with canes reaching over 6 metres — the only performer in Spain with this setup. A rare chance to confront your fear of heights and learn, play and explore handstands on these towering canes, with full safety adapted to your level.

ED

Eamonn Doran

Ireland · Valencia

An Irish handbalancer and circus artist based in Valencia. In 2023 he left a career in FinTech to pursue circus arts full-time, following training that began in 2017. He's developed his practice under Sainbayar Janchivdorj at the London School of Handbalance, alongside Sammy Dinneen and Sasha Voytovich, and trains partner acrobatics and long-distance running. Eamonn is drawn to the community side of movement — bringing people together and creating space for students to grow together.

PR

Julieta Tissera & Luis Mantilla

Proyecto Recóndito

A contemporary circus duo united by a shared investigation into hand balancing as both physical practice and poetic language. With backgrounds spanning artistic gymnastics, martial arts, acrobatics, aerial disciplines, dance and circus arts, their work explores intimacy, presence and altered perception through movement. Both continue deepening their research while completing the PROTA program at Carampa Circus School.

One price. Full week.

400

per person, full festival

Secure Your Spot

Includes: all 32 workshops, equipment, vegan lunches, snacks, yoga, Thai massage and show night.

Accommodation not included. We recommend arranging travel and accident insurance separately.

If you can no longer attend, please reach out — we'll always do our best to help. Before July 17th, tickets are fully refundable excluding a €30 admin fee. After July 17th, tickets can be transferred to another person but cannot be refunded.

We recommend arranging your own travel and accommodation — and obtaining appropriate travel, accident and injury insurance before attending.

Five days.
Valencia.
September.

Previous editions sold out. Capacity is limited.

Secure Your Spot — September 15–19

Vegan meals included · Espai de Circ, Valencia