The Sirkka database collects information about Finnish circus art and the people who create it.
Circus artists and teachers based in Finland can add their profiles to the Sirkka database. Other artistic and technical personnel working in the field of circus may also create their own profiles. Information about circus shows and performing groups can also be entered into the database. All circus shows are welcome in the Calendar!
Information entered into Sirkka are visible in both the calendar and in the Shows & Artists section. The content in Shows & Artists is curated by CircusInfo’s staff.
Registration and logging in
If you need a Sirkka user account, please contact either head of communications Miika Sillanpää () or head of development (Finland) Johanna Mäkelä ().
- Email us with your name, e-mail address, phone number and the user name you would like. We’ll get back to you with your temporary password. Once you log in, you can change the password to your liking. (The password must be at least 6 characters long and include 3 of these: lowercase alphabets, uppercase alphabets, numbers, special characters)
Log in from the upper right corner of sirkusinfo.fi. There you’ll also find a link to password retrieval.
- The email containing the password reset link may sometimes go to your spam or junk mail folder, so check there if it doesn’t arrive within a reasonable amount of time.
After logging in you’ll be at the My Sirkka page. From there you’ll be able to navigate to the My profile, Add show and Add company forms.
You may change your password via the User information link at the end of the My profile form.
General information on filling forms
Information is added to the database via My profile, Add show and Add company forms.
- Part of the information in the forms can be filled in both Finnish and English. You can switch between language versions using the FI and EN buttons.
- Fields that are left empty will not be published.
- Web links are added as complete url addresses, e.g. http://www.domain.tld
- Choose 1–3 horizontal images. Image size should be at least 1200 px wide and the file size maximum is 4 MB. Image format must be .jpg or .png. (Vertical images are automatically cropped so that only the top part is visible.)
- Save the images one at a time, because the database accepts only max 4 MB of files at a time. After saving return to the form using the Edit button at the bottom of the page.
- The information entered will be shown on the site when the “Published” check box is checked and the form has been saved.
- SAVE button is at the end of the form. “Published” check box is at the beginning of the form.
How to use the calendar
The calendar is part of the Sirkka database. The calendar is found on CircusInfo’s website under the What’s On menu and the Sirkka database under the Circus in Finland menu.
The principle is that one show has one page in the database. Performances of the show are added on this page and they will then be displayed in the calendar, so that it’s necessary to enter basic information about the show only once. When your user account is linked to a certain company/group, you’ll be able to edit information about the company and its shows. (When you are logged in with your account, you’ll see the EDIT button at the bottom of company and show pages you’re able to edit.)
You can add a new show to the database using the Add show form. First fill all the show information fields and save them using the SAVE button. Add images one at a time, i.e. click save after uploading each image and open the form again. After adding the show information you’ll also be able to add performance dates to the calendar.
- Video links are entered in as embed code, so that the videos will be displayed embedded on the page. The embed code snippet is found in Youtube or Vimeo by clicking Share and then choosing Embed. The code snippet begins with <iframe… Copy the entire snippet to the Video link field.
- If the show is not a professional performance, leave the box “Add to Sirkka database” unchecked. Then the show will be shown only in the calendar.
Adding performance dates to a show
After you have saved the show information you’ll be taken to the Calendar. Start adding performance dates by entering the venue. Write the name of the location into the field and choose it from the list that shows up.
- If the venue is not on the list, you can add a new venue to the database by clicking “Add new venue”. This form will ask for the venue’s address, postal code, city, country and website address. For the website choose the venue’s or location’s home page, not a page that lists their shows or your performance. When you’ve saved the new venue, it won’t be shown immediately on the list, but will default as the location for your show’s venue field.
Add date and time. If there are several performances on one day, you can enter all the times simultaneously if you separate them with a comma.
Each date is saved separately. After saving the date will be displayed on the list. The venue won’t be shown on the listing, but it will be visible on the show’s actual webpage.
Finally save and close the show form by clicking the SAVE button above the Calendar section.
- You can add both past and upcoming dates to the calendar. Upcoming dates will be shown on the calendar and past ones in the Past shows section.
- Other past performances field includes information about performance history, which is inherited from the database’s previous version. The Other past performances field will not be published on the site. You can use it to make notes (for yourself) about show dates that haven’t yet been added to the calendar.
Editing show information
When you’re logged in, you’ll be able to edit information you’ve entered. Open the show’s page in My Sirkka under the form links in the “My recent shows” section. You’ll see an Edit link at the bottom of each show’s page. Click it.
When your user account is linked to a company, you can edit all of the company’s shows and their profile page. Shows entered into the database via other people’s accounts won’t be visible in your “My recent shows” section, but when you’re logged in and open up a show’s page, you’ll see the Edit link at the bottom.
You can request being linked to a company by sending an email to Miika Sillanpää () or Johanna Mäkelä ()
How to create a circus company’s profile
Add a new company to the database using the Add company form. You can add both active companies and ones that have already disbanded.
If possible, it’s recommended to enter the description of the company in both Finnish and English.
- If you add more than one website to the company, write them on separate lines.
- The Organisational form field is the same in both language versions of the site. So you can write e.g. yhdistys/association.
- If the company doesn’t have a certain contact person, you can enter the company’s website into the Contact person field as well (the field isn’t formatted into a hyperlink)
- Checking the box “Other” in the Genres of performances section opens a possibility to enter freeform text into the “What?” field.
The company’s profile page will automatically include links into show pages in the Sirkka database if the company is marked as the show’s creator. The prerequisite for this automatic linking is that the company’s name has been chosen from the list in the show form’s field “Artist’s or company’s name”. If a show doesn’t appear on the company’s profile even though you think it should, contact us to sort it out.
In the Other productions field you can list shows and projects which are not in the database.
Adding members to a company
After you’ve saved the company’s profile, you can add members to it.
- Write the name in the “Add new member” field and choose from the list that opens. The list shows all profiles of artists that have been added to Sirkka.
- If a member’s name is not on the list, write it into the Other members field.
Remember to save and publish the information you enter.
Editing a company’s profile information
When you’re logged in, you can edit information you’ve entered. Open the company’s page from “My companies”. You’ll see an Edit button at the bottom of the page. Click it.
When your user account is linked to a company, you can edit both the company’s profile page and their shows. Ask for editing privileges from Miika Sillanpää or Johanna Mäkelä.
How to add an artist or teacher profile
Finnish or Finland-based circus artists and teachers may add their profile to the Sirkka database. A profile can also be created by other artistic and technical personnel working in the circus field.
Creating your profile
- Log in and open My profile. The form will be empty if you haven’t created a profile before. If your profile already exists in the database, the form will be pre-filled and you can update your information.
- All free text fields can be filled as necessary. Fill the fields in both Finnish and English if possible.
- Enter only that contact information that you allow to be published on a public website.
- In the “Tell about yourself as an artist” field you can write a free-form introduction about yourself and in the “Artistic activity” field you can, for example, list important works picked out from your CV or just link to your website that has your CV – it’s ok to be creative.
Older artist profiles created in the previous version of the database have a “Furor poeticus” field and a “What inspires you as an artist” question. The information entered into these won’t be published on the website anymore. Instead the profile has an option to enter a free-form introduction about yourself.
Notes for a circus teacher profile
- When you choose “Other” from the list of circus skills, you can add information to the “What?” field, where you can list skills that aren’t included in the list itself. It’s useful for circus teachers to fill this part.
- Important fields for a teacher are also “Professional circus education”, where you can also add information about other education that supports your work as a circus teacher, “Educational employment” and finally “Tell more of yourself as a circus teacher”, which appears only if you select Circus teacher as your activity.
The tooltip for the “Tell more of yourself as a circus teacher” field has instructions on what you can tell about yourself:
* Which disciplines do you teach?
* Do you also teach general circus skills or only your own circus discipline – on what level?
* Which age groups do you teach?
* Do you teach + amateurs + professionals + people with special needs, which?__________
* In which languages do you teach?
* Pedagogical education:
* Please tell more about your conception of pedagogy:
* Are you interested in finding regular or short-term work as a circus teacher?
* Hometown/locations where you are available to teach? (cities, regions)
- Remember to save and publish your profile! The Publish checkbox is at the beginning of the form.
If you have any questions, please contact either head of communications Miika Sillanpää (, tel. +358 40 753 6905) or head of development (Finland) Johanna Mäkelä (, tel. +358 50 464 3203) or