The 21st Festival is here!
The 2026 edition wants to celebrate laughter as an act of resistance and rehumanization.
The International Clown Festival of Cornellà de Llobregat “Charlie Rivel Memorial” is a biennial event born in 1984 with the mission of disseminating the socio-cultural aspect of the performing arts of clowns. Recognized as one of the most prestigious festivals in Europe, it is today an international reference and an essential event for clown professionals and lovers.
The Festival was born to pay tribute to the Catalan clown Charlie Rivel and to make Cornellà the city of clowns, filling streets, squares, schools and facilities with smiles, tenderness and a critical spirit. Over the years, it has become a platform that combines tradition and innovation, hosting everything from classic clowns to the most experimental proposals, with a single objective: to make people laugh and think.
Since its creation, the Festival has been a reflection of the society of its time, and each edition has emphasized some aspect that must be looked at with clown eyes: equality, freedom, fragility or humanity. The 21st edition, under the motto "Laughter in danger of extinction", calls for the protection of laughter as a common heritage, as an endangered species that must be cared for, cultivated and defended.
In this 21st edition, we want to celebrate laughter as an act of resistance and rehumanization.
We realize that laughter is becoming a luxury. That the clown, this fragile, free and tender being, is more necessary than ever.
This edition of the festival will be a quiet cry:
Let's protect laughter. Because laughter is resistance. Because the clown reminds us of who we are, of what humans are, when we let go. Because in a world that is hardening, tenderness is revolutionary.
During these days, Cornellà will become a refuge of laughter, where clowns and clowns from all over the world will share with the public their clean, absurd and necessary gaze. “Laughter in danger of extinction” is a call to stop, look each other in the eye and truly laugh again.
We claim the right to fall, to make mistakes, to laugh until we cry. To look at the world upside down to see it clearly. To break absurd rules with a tender gesture.
The clown accompanies us. And with him, laughter. Let's protect him. Let's protect ourselves.
Welcome everyone!
