El Paso chosen as 2016 festival site for International Jugglers’ Association
Destination El Paso announced Thursday morning that El Paso has been selected as the site of the 69th Annual International Jugglers’ Association Festival, scheduled for July 24-31, 2016.
The International Jugglers’ Association (IJA) is expected to draw between 500-750 jugglers, performers, hobbyists and variety artists from around the world to El Paso and will contribute an estimated 900-1,200 room nights over the course of the week-long festival, according to Destination El Paso.
The festival features around-the-clock juggling, four evenings of shows and championship competitions, over a hundred workshops, and other special events.
“We are excited to be the first Texas city, after seven decades, to host this extremely dexterous, high energy group,” said Bryan Crowe, General Manager of Destination El Paso. “This is the first time we’ve hosted a convention/festival of this type and we not only look forward to seeing their captivating performances, but to also introduce our great city to these talented international artists.”
“All of us at the International Jugglers’ Association are thrilled to be able to bring our week of festival fun to El Paso in the summer of 2016. We never thought we’d be able to take our festival to such a large city with so many excellent facilities, but Destination El Paso made it happen,” said Mike Sullivan, IJA Future Festival Site Coordinator. “We can’t wait for the day our jugglers arrive in El Paso to enjoy this great city for a week. It will be our first-ever festival in Texas after almost 70 years, and it’s all thanks to Destination El Paso.”
Other Festival Events:
Over a dozen events scheduled during the week are open to the public, and many of them are free. Plans call for all of these public events:
Two nights of medal championship competitions, bringing the best jugglers from every corner of the globe to El Paso to compete for the IJA’s gold medal
Two additional nights of Las Vegas-style juggling shows featuring comedy, amazing skill and “best of the best” variety performances
A free ‘learn-to-juggle’ show and workshop open to children and parents alike
The “World Joggling Championships” at UTEP Kidd Field Track, where competitors juggle as many as five objects while running
A jugglers’ parade through the community
