Howdy! My name is Chelsea and I'm a child of professional birthday party clowns. I learned how to juggle at a very young age and juggling with my family was one of my favorite pass times as a kid. I found this site to promote a new juggling festival located in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. It will take place at the Somatic Movement Gym located at 3703 S. Fielder Rd. Arlington TX 76015 from August 14th through 16th 2026. So if you live in the area or are willing to travel MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW! We are a very new non-profit organization that is volunteer based so please spread the word! You can find more information about the festival here: https://dfw-juggling.square.site (info will be updated soon).
I also plan on attending Austin Jugglefest that will take place at Navarro High School 1201 Payton Gin Rd, Austin, TX 78758 from February 20th-22nd. It's always a blast with attendees from all over, really great performances and lots of fun games! You can find more info here: https://juggling.place.org/jugglefest/
I also host Fire Nights at my place in Denton TX if anyone is interested. This is a night for spinning and or juggling fire props including but not limited to poi, hoop, staff, torches, fans, fire breathing, etc. So hit me up if you're in the area and want to join! :)
Keep Flowing!
Chelsea
Just one week until Chocfest! York's premier juggling convention
I asked Chatgpt to write some gibberish and this is what it wrote:Get ready to throw, spin, and celebrate at Chocfest 2026, the ultimate juggling festival where creativity, community, and controlled chaos collide! Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just learning your first three-ball cascade, Chocfest brings together jugglers from around the world for an unforgettable day of workshops, shows, games, and chocolate cake competitions. Expect inspiring performances, skill-building masterclasses, plenty of laughs, and that unbeatable festival buzz where everyone is welcome and every prop is celebrated. If you love juggling, circus, flow arts, or just being part of something joyfully off-balance, Chocfest 2026 is the place to be—don’t drop the chance to join the fun! 🎪🤹♂️
Sorry about that.
We are in a new venue this year, but expect all the usual activities and fun and discounted entry for jugglers bringing cakes for chocolate cake contest
www.chocfest.net
#Chocfest2026
Hello! I just created an account after using this site to find festivals for ages. I'm hoping to someday soon host a festival in upstate New York (Syracuse) and wanted an account to post about it. While I'm at it, I might also link some of the other Northeast US festivals I go to if I don't already see them on the events page.
Hi Josef,
Welcome to the Edge, the more people ensuring that all juggling festivals are on the Juggling Edge events page the better. Sometimes after adding events I message the event organisers to let them know their event is on Juggling Edge, in case they need to change something
Good luck with hosting your festival.
Hi all: long time juggler, first time poster here with a lot of free time on my hands at the moment.
I recently bought the domain https://juggling.club and wanted to use to for something useful and maybe even productive. My initial thought was to provide webspace for circus clubs and societies if needed, think https://leeds.juggling.club or whatever the people want.
It looks like there are a couple of places out there that offer a similar service - Juggling Edge being one of them. But I'm not sure how well known or well used these are. I'm hoping to talk to some people to see if there is anything new I could offer. Depending on feedback and user expertise, I could offer a simple webpage with club information, whole websites, or anything in between.
I am not wanting to charge for this - I simply want to offer something fun and easy.
Also happy to dole out email addresses if people want them.
I also see there is a desire to bring back juggling.tv which is something I would happily be a part of. I have played with setting up federated sites before, although storage and cost for such a project would make it difficult. I'd be open to join and discussion around this if it is still going on.
A #VidADay. Since most are now homeless, I'm going to start re-hosting all my old videos. It's not a New Year's resolution, but I'm going to see how long I can keep up with one a day. Here's the link:
https://tlmb.net/blog/tag/vidaday/
...in case you want to revel in some juggling/kendama/yo-yo nostalgia. ;-)
(A bunch of kendama trick list videos etc are already back up at https://kendama.co.uk/b/category/video/ )
News from the organisers of this year's European Juggling Convention in Ptuj:
🔥🎟️ TICKET SALE STARTS IN JANUARY 🎟️🔥
The wait is almost over… and the excitement is real.
In January, ticket sales officially open for the European Juggling Convention 2026 — and it’s going to be something truly special.
📍 Ptuj, Slovenia
📅 1–9 August 2026
For nine days, jugglers, circus artists, performers, makers, dreamers, and communities from all over the world will come together in one of Europe’s oldest and most beautiful towns. Expect endless workshops, mind-blowing shows, spontaneous jams, games, late-night magic, shared meals, deep conversations, new friendships, and that unique feeling that only the EJC can create.
🌍 EJC’26 is a non-commercial, community-driven event, proudly supported and coordinated by the European Juggling Association. Every ticket helps make the convention possible and directly supports juggling and circus across Europe — now and in the future.
✨ This is more than a festival.
✨ This is where skills are shared, history is written, and community grows.
✨ This is WEJC — and you are part of it.
🚀 Get ready.
📅 Save the date.
🎪 Warm up your props.
💛 See you in Ptuj.
#EJC2026 #EJCPtuj #EJA #WEJC #JugglingCommunity #CircusFamily #TicketSale #SeeYouInPtuj
from: https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=122197370996613355&id=61568400657093
My pledge to all #EJC organizers:
Don't use facebook, instagram, x, tiktok as primary information channel.
Information should be first available at the official website. Why is #EJA not capable of making this mandatory? Why do you force people to use such platforms, when you are in control of your own websites?
I really feel frustrated. Every year crucial #information is kept in proprietary silos of huge companies instead of being shared on infrastructure you own.
Hello. I'd like to say thank you for everyone who helped me on the forum with 4 ball juggling. I can go for pretty long runs with 4 balls now. I'm looking to start 5 ball juggling now. I am currently just practicing throwing 3 balls high up in the air at an even height. If you've got any tips for this please do tell!
I remember that 55050 and 552 helped me learn 5, plus go higher and slower than you first think
Also, Void's advice about breathing is good, you'll find yourself holding your breath without even noticing.
I found practicing exactly n throws and catches and finishing cleanly helped, then slowly increase n over time. Always just going until you drop didn't really help me.
YMMV
And be aware the difference between learning 4 and then 5 is longer than going from 3 to 4
also 3b low & fast, and wide ( at 5b speed and width, i think )
also, 5b,
'higher than you think'
- there's not only two more balls' flight times but also their dwelltimes to catch up with \ to fit into the beatspeed at a given height ratio, respectively required height per given beatspeed
You know how one of the first drills for learning 3 balls is to throw one ball up, clap underneath, and then catch in the other hand. Pretty much the same thing for 5. juggle 3, keep the rhythm and flash all 3 up at 5 ball height, (eventually clap underneath), and then carry on. Starting from both the left and from the right.
Thanks for the one ball one clap idea, I hadn’t seen that one before.
While meditating on that I realized that juggling two balls in one hand and slapping my thigh in rhythm produces the sound of one hand clapping.
Thanks everyone for the tips. A lot of you have been telling me to throw the balls high up. However, this is almost impossible. The reason is, I live in an apartment and the ceiling is not too high. (Please don't tell me to practice outside that's like torture to me)
Another thing is I'm still getting pretty frustrated. It sort of sounds stupid but I really can't stop myself from feeling it. Regardless of me not holding my breath while practicing or telling myself and actually knowing that progress comes slowly I'll still feel those feelings.
Little Paul - - Parent #
Frustration is natural, you’re trying to learn something new and difficult (but achievable!).
You won’t make progress when you’re frustrated, so be kind to yourself and take breaks.
I’m no expert and I don't juggle much any more (I just tried 5 for the first time in about a decade - my best run today was a shaky 23 catches) but my general tips for 5 balls are:
* Throw height: put your arm straight up directly over your head, that’s a good height to aim for.
If your ceiling is low enough that you’re touching it, and you don’t have anywhere else - try kneeling on the floor!
* Relax your shoulders and lower your throwing position, your hands should be throwing at or below elbow height. A lot of people find themselves tensing up, hunching and their hands creep up to shoulder height, this gives you no room for corrections (and makes your ceiling height problem worse!)
* It’s slower than you think it is - don’t rush the pattern. The rhythm is the same as 3 balls, you really don’t need to go “fast”
* Vary your 3ball pattern a lot. Make it low, high, narrow, wide, speed it up, slow it down, move the pattern left/right. Throw with your hands high, throw with your hands low.
Get very comfortable with how all that variation feels, it will solidify your foundation skills and make your 5 easier to control
Oh, and stick with it! You’ll get there!
Beginners feel like they have to go fast to "get all the throws in", which can result in hurried throws - the hands tend to creep up and up. It's an understandable reaction, but is counterproductive. To give yourself more time in the pattern, after each catch, make sure you move that catching hand *down* before doing the next throw. This will mean your hand is holding the ball for longer during the course of each throw, which in turn means you are more in control of the throw. Each throw should begin with your hand *well below* your elbow. This should result in better accuracy of your throws - both height and direction. (You can practice this with 3 and 4 balls, to help you get a muscle memory of how this works.)
And sorry, but ceiling height (depth) is not your friend. The pattern needs the space it needs.
Also, don't be tempted to think "was today better than yesterday?" in measuring your progress. 5 ball juggling is a long haul, so think in weeks, or even months.
Stick with it, it's worth it.
@ 'frustrated feelings'
if you really dearly want to go for achievements with juggling ( and not it be like a replacement for anything going bad in your life ), then there's no need to be deceived: find out, what makes you frustrated, which throws or catches, how pattern collapses, if losing concentration or coming into strenuous ado, outer conditions e.g. balls rolling under the sofa, ... anything taking the fun out of it.
you then mostly always follow that self set task to eliminate the bad out of your sessions ( no free braincells for any frustrating feelings ), - guided by your goal ( and be that only to cherish what you can do comfortably without any bad ).
often, also, it happens, that when trying sth differently, you horribly blunder on doing so for being completely out of concept and it tears you down the more ... but: that attempt was better than anything you were doing before! Because you had the right thing in mind,the right way to do it ( e.g. focus on this or that, e.g. a distinct problem ball gotten well, e.g. scooping well, ... ), and a glimpse on what the good ado and pattern will be like. which is then actually a hurdle taken, a great door opened and motivating!
oh, .. and I repeat momo's advice to find other jugglers - it's just too inciting to spend any thoughts on frust.
simply check the events and clubs in the menu!
Thank you everyone. I'm just lost now. Not even that decent at 4 ball juggling I just realized. Maybe I'm just not built for juggling. Especially with my tendency to cry when frustrated, learning juggling is basically picking at a scab on a wound in hopes of removing it completely. Atleast I've learned to do 3 balls and 4 balls (not that good tho), so maybe juggling will just go on my list of skills I am painfully mediocre at. I'll probably keep practicing but I don't know how long I'll keep up with it.
Hello everyone. I joined this forum looking for help on 4 ball juggling as I'm a beginner juggler. Could you give me some tips, as whenever I juggle 4 balls the two fountains keep swaying away from the center of my body, and start to become uneven. Thank you in advance!
I am not a ball juggler. I learned 4 balls first in columns before I changed to fountains. I guess it is another challenge, but I found it easier to learn a pattern where I throw straigt up and have no circular movement. With the energy you put into that circular movement I guess your balls get thrown further out because you want to throw them around the other from the inside to the outside. So you might have to throw a bit higher, which is also difficult to throw precisely. Therefore you might first learn colums to learn to throw straight. They might appear to be more hectic because you will throw less high and move your hands not in a round pattern but on a line and therefore faster. Maybe you could try that.
Synchronous, that I mention below, feel not so appealing but also help if you want to learn four clubs as you see the different heights of the clubs and the different speeds that they turn. So you can observe 1 particular thing that you want to even out. After being able to catch 4 clubs synchronously with 20 catches my asynchronous pattern reached 100 catches.
Perhaps some ball jugglers could also answer, as I am a diabolo player.
What helped me learn to juggle 4 balls was:
* 3 ball exercises
** juggling 4 2 3 (the W pattern) with 3 balls
** juggling 2 in 1 hand holding a third ball in the other hand. When I get insecure I threw 1 ball over to the other side and do 2 in 1 hand on the other side while holding the other ball in the hand I started with.
* 4 balls
** juggling columns not fountains
** juggling synchronous to see if I throw the same height on both sides
** juggling 4 balls asynchronous
** juggling fountains as my columns got secure (100 catches)
* general advice
** stopping when the pattern gets unstable and starting from new
** making pauses (juggle for 3 mins, doing nothing for 3 mins, thinking about what I did for 3 mins, repeat)
** 15-20 minutes a day is enough
Have fun juggling!
When I try to practice I just end up feeling very down and just give up. How can I practice 4 ball juggling? I feel like my brain has officially associated the prospect of juggling with stress.
A classic piece of advice that sounds facetious but isn't: remember to breathe. People often hold their breath without realising they're doing it. Try to remember to breathe in after 10 catches or so, then out after another 10, etc.
A common problem 4-ball learners have is that the pattern tends towards the middle, causing collisions. It sounds like you have the opposite problem. Perhaps your arm-scoops are too accentuated? Try a few runs concentrating on making your scoops wider or thinner, and seeing what difference that makes.
Good luck!
A good advice would be to practice with friends or other jugglers. Everybody struggles in the beginning of learning a new thing. Having people around even if they are training a completely different thing helps me being inspired and motivated. A friend of mine does play hoop and playing diabolo when she is training next to me just makes the session so much more fun.
You do not have to learn a new skill in a short time. Try to have short training sessions regularly than long sessions. You will see your progress. 15 Minutes a day should be enough.
If you can throw and catch 4 times (called a flash) cleanly is much better for an ending of a training session than having 8 (called a qualify for four balls) throws where you struggle to catch them and have a lot of body movement to being able to handle it. So try to end your session with a good run.
Hope that helps. Great that you come out and ask for advice! Welcome to the community.
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