Nomad Clown Caravan (NCC) (2026) /
Nomad Clown Caravan
(NCC)
Inspired by the historical role of caravans in bringing people together, Nomad Clown Caravan (NCC) is a contemporary, nomadic caravan of clowns. Moving fluidly through public spaces and among audiences, they guide people where they are needed and create interactive, playful, and humorous encounters, awakening joy and liveliness in the space and cultivating a sense of belonging.
NCC is conceived as an evolving performance project that can adapt to festivals, public spaces, community events, and site-specific environments, with each new setting offering the possibility of developing new characters, interactions, and performance structures.
Toronto Newcomer Day
May 2026 — Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto
Six clowns arrive at Nathan Phillips Square after a journey of hundreds of years, each coming from a different corner of the world. For the first time, they meet in Canada, a place that becomes a new point of arrival and belonging.
Their story unfolds through encounters rather than a fixed stage. Moving through the event, they welcome people as special guests, offering colorful balloons, imaginary flowers, and handwritten messages of belonging. Along the way, music, dance, physical comedy, and small improvised scenes appear wherever the caravan stops. A piece of fabric, a ribbon, or an empty patch of space can suddenly become their stage.
At other moments, the clowns disappear into their booth to rest or invite visitors on short imaginary journeys. Nothing is forced; audiences can simply watch, join in, or continue on their way. Through these small encounters, the caravan turns their arrival in Canada into a playful story of connection, belonging, and shared imagination.
Organizations involved include Toronto Arts Foundation, Arts in the Parks, and Neighbourhood Arts.
Artist Statement- Toronto Newcomer Day 2026
Six wandering clowns arrive from distant corners of the world carrying small gestures against despair: music, dance, balloons, imaginary flowers, absurdity, and fragments of laughter, with the intention of drawing people’s attention away from their worries and anxieties, even for a few moments, and bringing them into the here and now.
This performance at Toronto Newcomer Day 2026 is not only an event, but the beginning of a larger dream: that one day this caravan may continue to grow and return each year as a celebration of collective happiness. Maybe Toronto can even have its own Clown Day.
Perhaps we are all still Nomad Clown underneath, searching for belonging in a constant journey toward a more livable world.
Samba in the Park
July 2026 — Walter Saunders Memorial Park, Toronto
At Samba in the Park, the caravan arrived with a different mission: to get samba into the heart and feet of the community.
As part of the event, the clowns moved through Walter Saunders Memorial Park, welcoming audiences with small gifts, playful encounters, and moments of spontaneous interaction before bringing their own comic story to the park.
The highlight was a comic lesson between Vincent, the world-renowned Master of Fervo Dance, and Sleepy, the world's smartest student. Vincent set out to pass on his extraordinary skills, but the lesson quickly fell apart.
What followed was a playful chain of failed attempts, physical comedy, surprises, and escalating chaos, accompanied by live clownish music from Respira, the Masked Drummer, the world's greatest Fervo musician.
Artist Statement
We are living in a world shaped not only by deep personal and collective trauma of the past, but also by increasing violence, fracture, and disconnection. Somewhere within that landscape, I lost my connection to joy. Laughter disappeared from my body for a long time, as though it had migrated to a distant, unknown city. Eventually, I realized that, to bring it back home, I needed to rediscover my inner joker, the imaginative child within me who still believed in pleasure and wonder.
Through that mysterious journey, I reconnected with play, creativity, other people, and slowly, with happiness again.
The Nomad Clown Caravan is a gift I am offering to the community, a playful act of joy and connection for newcomers and for the whole city of Toronto.
Have a space, a celebration, a story, or simply an idea that could use a little more play?
Nomad Clown Caravan is an open, evolving framework that can be shaped for festivals, cultural events, community programs, public spaces, site-specific projects, and multidisciplinary collaborations. From roaming encounters to fully developed performances, each project can grow from the character of its space, its audience, and the people it brings together.
Let’s create something playful, unexpected, and alive.