The Monte-Carlo Circus Festival, the ring where the Golden Clowns are handed out

There’s something I love about this festival. In a country known for racing cars and superyachts, one of its most prestigious dates is a circus, with a big top, horses, flyers and clowns. Not just any circus either, because this is where the Golden Clowns are awarded, the nearest thing the profession has to an Oscar. Here are the 2027 dates and how I’d approach it.

When is the 2027 Circus Festival?

The 49th edition runs from 22 to 31 January 2027, together with the 14th New Generation, the young artists’ competition. The first three days, Friday 22 to Sunday 24, are given over to two separate selection line-ups, so you watch every competing act before the jury has its say. On Monday the 25th at 19:00 there’s an ecumenical service in the big top.

The high point is Tuesday the 26th at 19:30, with the gala and awards. Then, from the 27th to the 31st, come several performances of the Show des Vainqueurs, which gathers the prize-winning acts. The breakdown is in the table. The 2026 edition, the 48th, ran from 16 to 25 January, so the dates shift slightly each year.

The Golden Clowns and who wins them

The top award is the Golden Clown, alongside Silver and Bronze Clowns and a range of special prizes that recognise technique, creativity and performance. One detail from its history I like a lot. At the first edition in 1974, Prince Rainier III gave the very first Golden Clown to a Spaniard, the clown Charlie Rivel.

In New Generation the big prize is the Junior d’Or, presented by Pauline Ducruet, who has chaired its jury since she and her mother, Princess Stéphanie, launched the competition in 2012. It’s where you catch performers before they’re famous, and I think it’s the part of the festival with the most future in it.

Prince Rainier III’s idea

Rainier III founded the festival in 1974. He adored the circus and wanted to support traditional circus, its artists and its great ring families. In 2005 his daughter Stéphanie took over and has chaired it ever since. It’s one of those princely traditions handed from father to daughter, and there’s more background in the Grimaldi family.

To give you a sense of the standard, this is how the government described the 2026 line-up. The Richter family with a liberty horse act ending in ‘La Poste’, one of the hardest equestrian feats, Latvia’s Andrejs Fjodorov with trained pigeons, the Dalian acrobatic troupe from China and the flying Mexican troupe led by Juan Cebolla. The 2027 programme hadn’t been announced when I wrote this.

The Fontvieille big top and getting there

Everything happens in the Fontvieille big top, in the district’s landscaped park between the heliport and the Princess Grace rose garden. Of its four hectares, a slice is reserved for the tent, and outside January the park goes back to being a calm walk among sculptures and a pond. The district itself, land won back from the sea, gets its own page in what to see in Fontvieille.

From the station you can take a bus or walk, and drivers can use the Fontvieille shopping centre car park. At night, after the show, I’d much rather walk back to a nearby hotel than dash for the last train to Nice. January evenings on the coast are mild by British standards, but a big top is still a big top, so I’d bring a warm layer for the walk home.

How I’d do it

For a single show I’d book the Show des Vainqueurs, because you see the best of the edition without any gamble. If budget allows and you like an opening-night feel, the gala on the 26th. 2027 prices weren’t out at the end of September 2026, so I’d check the official site and the SBM’s from the autumn.

The best thing about January is that the festival shares its week with Sainte Dévote, the patron saint, whose feast on 26 and 27 January ends with a boat set alight outside her church. Together they’re my favourite winter plan, and I explain both in Monaco’s traditions and festivals. The Monte Carlo Rally, from 21 to 24 January, overlaps with the opening days, as I cover in the Monte Carlo Rally, and for the other eleven months I keep the Monaco events calendar up to date.