This is a short video to introduce you to the wonderful ways of Open Space!

This video is for anyone who would like a little more information about what’s going to happen at Clown Congress before they arrive. I will also be sharing this information live in person on Saturday morning.

It’s especially important for those people who are arriving just for the Sunday of Clown Congress to watch this video beforehand, as I won’t be repeating all this information live on Sunday.

This blog outlines the basis, but there's a bit more information in the video:

You can also find the video on youtube here.

What is Open Space?

Our Clown Congress uses an organic clown-friendly conferencing technique called Open Space. Originally developed by Harrison Owen in the 1980’s, I learned from Phelim McDermott of Improbable Theatre. Open Space is designed to help people follow their curiosity at conferences. 

At an Open Space conference, there are no pre-arranged talks or workshops, the attendees set the agenda and figure out what they want to do moment by moment, guided by their curiosity.

Sounds like chaos? Don’t worry, there is some structure! Stay with me while I lead you into the Open Space...

What’s Going to Happen at Clown Congress?

We’ll start by bringing you all together in the main space, this is a big black box theatre. We’ll introduce the team and then we’ll offer a short grounding to help you land into the process and then we’ll invite you to do a few meet and greet games to break the ice.

After that we’ll introduce the theme of our Clown Congress: 

Our theme for 2026: Exploring The State Of Play

We are a big bunch of clowns (60+) who are gathering together for two days to explore:

1.) What is the State of our Art? 

What's happening in clown world? What’s going well? What are we doing that we can savour and celebrate?

2.) What is the Future of Performance? 

Is traditional theatre dead? In the spirit of 'evolve or die,' how do we, as artists, sustain ourselves and our practice?

3.) What is Clowning in Action? 

How do we apply clowning to make a tangible difference, in our own lives and the lives of others, through clown activism, clown therapy, and clown social care?

4.) How can Clowning Support Community and Survival? 

How do we build clown communities and utopian spaces to see us through turbulent times? How do we gather outside the failing paradigms to sustain ourselves and our art?

Those are some questions to spark our collective explorations, but really whatever you’re curious to explore is welcome in the Open Space.

How Does Open Space Work?

There will be a schedule on the wall with available spaces and time slots.

Everyone will be invited to propose a session inspired by our conference questions. You can do this by writing the title of your session on a small piece of paper and announcing it to the group (help will be on hand to do this if you need it). 

Then you’ll choose a space and a time for your session and you’ll stick your session on the schedule.

The sessions are one hour long and can take any form - You could propose a serious discussion on a particular topic, or a games exchange session, you could share something about your clown work, you could guide an embodied research lab, you could propose a group lie down, really you can offer whatever you want.

You don’t have to propose anything at all!  If you prefer, you can just attend other people’s sessions, you don’t even have to do that!.

If you do propose a session – you need to be responsible for documenting it so that we can all get a sense of what has been discovered – this could be writing notes, drawing pictures, photos or short films or whatever - you can delegate this to someone else in your session if you prefer. 

The 4 Open Space principles

1.) Whoever comes are the right people

2.) Whenever it starts is the right time

3.) Whatever happens is the only thing that could have

4.) When it's over it's over

The ONLY law of Open Space:The Law Of Mobility

This means everyone is free to move about between the sessions. If you notice you are disengaged, if you are neither learning nor contributing, it is the law that you need to follow your heart or your feet elsewhere. Put yourself where you most need to be. If you suddenly realise you need to do something else that isn't on the agenda, then do it. Everyone is responsible for their own experience. 

Some creatures you might meet in an Open Space

• Bees - cross pollinate the various sessions

• Butterflies - stand around the tea station looking pretty - maybe a spontaneous conversation or interaction will start with them - if it feels good, go with it.

• Giraffes - when you notice your energy is drifting and you start to turn your head, looking for something else - either get curious being where you or follow the law of mobility and go somewhere else.

The Clown Congress Team

There is a big team on hand to support you through the event. We’ll introduce ourselves in person, but just so you know who’s who:

Holly - host

Robyn - host

Jan - host

Alice / Pan - pastoral care support

Lucy - catering manager

Bee - documentation manager

Clowns in pink high vis jackets are known as Clown Comrades - a bunch of volunteers who will be milling about to support the event.

We look forward to welcoming you to the Clown Congress Open Space!

To find out what happened at Clown Congress 2025 go here.

To find out more about Clown Congress 2026 go here.