On December 22, 2021, the Belgian Overlegcomité decided on new measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Consequently, the MAD Festival could not take place, the setup was halted, and ticket buyers were refunded.

Following the recent decision of the Council of State to allow the cultural sector to remain open, the option to proceed with the festival was thoroughly examined. However, the crucial preparation week that was lost cannot be easily recovered. Unlike a closed-door venue, a festival ground cannot simply be closed and reopened. 

Therefore, the cancellation remains in effect, but we won't leave the circus community empty-handed. We are planning MAD On Tour on Saturday, January 8, 2022: some trainers who were scheduled to teach at the MAD Convention will organize a joint training session with young acrobats at the following locations: Circuplaneet (Gent), Circus in Beweging (Leuven), Locorotondo (Herentals), Sarakasi (Dendermonde), Circolito (Mechelen), Ell Circo D’ell Fuego (Antwerp), Ecole de Cirque (Brussels), and Woesh (Kortrijk, Oostende, Bruges, Roeselare).