The 18th China Wuqiao International Circus Festival will be held between Sept 28-30 in Shijiazhuang and Cangzhou, Hebei province, with various online and offline events.

Thirty-five acrobatic shows from 18 countries and regions, including six from China, will be performed during three online galas, competing for awards at the biennial festival judged by a committee of 17 experts from home and abroad.

Meanwhile, 15 well-selected domestic circus performances from North China will be held during another online gala.

The opening and closing ceremonies will take place offline in Shijiazhuang and Cangzhou, respectively, with top-ranking domestic acrobatic performances that fully represent Chinese culture and spirit. It will be livestreamed online.

While the Guizhou Provincial Acrobatic Troupe's diabolo performance has costumes and stage designs featuring local wax printing, Hebei Provincial Acrobatic Troupe has created a new show to celebrate the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

"We're honored to be part of the festival. Our show has combined acrobatics and magic with advanced technology, such as projection, to demonstrate our warm welcome to the Olympics with acrobatics," says Wei Yinshuan, head of Hebei Provincial Acrobatic Troupe.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has affected the domestic performing arts market greatly, including acrobatic shows.

"Due to the pandemic, the audience limit for an acrobatic performance is about 50 to 70 percent, but that means it's almost impossible to make a profit. I'm grateful to the performers who're still sticking to it," he says.

To prevent any outbreak of COVID-19, domestic troupes from medium- and high-risk regions and overseas troupes are not invited to the festival.

The local governments of the two cities will take rigid prevention and control measures during the festival.

They will disinfect public areas and conduct emergency drills in advance, with ambulances and medical workers on-site. For the opening and closing ceremonies, performers and audiences will undergo temperature checks and scan QR codes to show their travel history and health status.

Nine experts from home and abroad will conduct online discussions in a forum to exchange views about the development of the circus industry amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Wang Rongli, deputy head of Hebei provincial culture and tourism department, says it will promote the festival online via both traditional and social media.

It will cooperate with short video platforms to promote the online galas and invite veteran circus artists to perform online, such as displaying magic tricks, and communicate with viewers.

She says the flexibility of online broadcasting allows audiences to enjoy acrobatic shows that require large installations of equipment, which were previously difficult to transport overseas. For example, the Russian acrobats will perform on a specially designed tank.

"These acrobatic shows are combined with modern aesthetics and arts, and are a real eye-opener. There are breathtaking and challenging acrobatics, as well as touching stories showcased via body movements," she says.

In 2006, the acrobatics in Wuqiao county, Cangzhou city, was added to the national list of intangible cultural heritage due to its deep-rooted history that dates back to the Warring States Period (475-221 BC).

Official figures show that, until the end of 2020, Cangzhou had 112 acrobatic troupes, six acrobatic art schools and eight corporations that manufactured acrobatic props. Over 30,000 people work in the city's acrobatics industry, with an annual total output value of about 200 million yuan ($31 million).

Wang Xiaoling, vice-mayor of Cangzhou, says the international circus festival has boosted the city's acrobatics industry greatly.

It helps to recruit and train circus talent, encourages artists to create new shows for the festival, serves as a platform for international communication, and promotes integration of circus culture and tourism.

The Hebei Wuqiao Acrobatic Art School has trained over 500 students drawn from more than 40 countries across Europe, America, Asia, Oceania and Africa.

Wuqiao Acrobatics World, an 4A-level scenic area that offers various traditional Chinese circus acts, such as stepping barefoot on a ladder made of sharp broadswords, is a must-visit for those who travel to the city, especially with children.