Parade: Endurance Above the Ice

Parade

The National Circus Festival creates an unforgettable parade in Tralee on Friday 6th November starting at 6pm. Enjoy all the spectacle of the circus along with spectacular Friday night fireworks at Kerry County Museum. The parade will begin from St John’s Church, onto Ashe Street and Denny Street. Featuring the spectacular Endurance Above the Ice. This event is delivered in collaboration with Samhain Chiarraí Festival 2025.

Endurance Above the Ice

Endurance Above the Ice is a new large-scale outdoor performance by Elisa Gallo Rosso and Cork Puppetry Company, inspired by the extraordinary story of explorer Tom Crean and the Endurance expedition in Antarctica.

Blending physical theatre, street performance, puppetry, moving scenography, music and procession, the project brings the atmosphere of the Endurance expedition and south pole into public space. But this is not a solemn retelling of history. Play and direct interaction with the audience are at the heart of the performance, as our explorers attempt to navigate the ice, the elements, each other and occasionally the public!

Through visual storytelling, audiences become part of the unfolding adventure, encountering the performers and moving scenography along the way. Beneath the humour is a story of courage, determination and human resilience, while also inviting audiences to reflect on our relationship with the natural environment and the fragility of the polar landscape.

Directed by Adrian Schvarzstein, assisted by Gavin McEntee, produced by Alex Maronna from Promenade, with Elisa Gallo Rosso as Artistic Director and lead visual creator, the work brings together an ensemble of performers, makers and artists to create a highly visual and playful public spectacle. Moving ice formations, unexpected encounters and theatrical interventions lead audiences through the town before culminating in a celebratory final procession.

Supported by the Arts Council Street Performance and Spectacle Project Award, with additional support from Promenade, Kerry County Council Arts Office, Fáilte Ireland Tourism, MTU, ISACS and SPRAOI, the work is being developed and fabricated throughout 2026 and will premiere at the National Circus Festival of Ireland in Tralee in November 2026.

Rooted in Kerry’s connection to Tom Crean, but looking firmly towards the present, Endurance Above the Ice sits at the meeting point of physical theatre, spectacle, heritage, humour, environmental awareness and public participation, bringing an extraordinary Irish story onto the streets for a new generation.

The performing ensemble includes Damian Punch, Cormac Costello, Rosie O’Regan, Kyle English, Gillian Roberts, Micheal Ryan, Bella Young, Cathal Carroll, Patrick O’Mahony and Senen O’Connor, alongside a wider team of makers and creatives.