Six hundred jugglers will flock to Springfield this week for the International Jugglers' Association Annual Festival scheduled for July 16-22.
Throughout the festival, a huge room at the MassMutual Center serves as a 24/7 gym for the jugglers. Here Keith Nelson, a professional performer, jumped through a whirling lasso on Tuesday morning among a crowd of nearly 100 jugglers.
"My skills include juggling, plate-spinning, sword-swallowing, fire-eating, unicycling, stilt-walking, a whole bunch of Wild West stuff and a lot of old vaudeville stuff," Nelson explained.
Tossing objects of all shapes and sizes, the jugglers in the gym ranged from three-year-olds to those in their seventies. Erin Riley, a professional juggler, rolled by on a unicycle while juggling pins.
"My favorite thing about juggling is passing clubs with a partner because it's like dancing," said Riley.
600 jugglers from around the world are visiting #SpringfieldMA for the @ijajugglers festival. NEPR's Lily Abrahams captured the scene in the in the @MM_Center. Just a casual 7-person juggle. pic.twitter.com/YXsBwAF4NS
— New England Public Media (@nepublicmedia) July 17, 2018
A juggler who goes by the name "Mellonhead" has been coming to the IJA festivals for 32 consecutive years and called the festival a "recess for adults." Mellonhead, like many others in the room, juggled with groups of strangers.
"We have that common knowledge and we practice after that," Mellonhead explained. "But it has to be fun. It's our passion."
The Western Massachusetts Sports Commission says the six-day festival, which includes workshops and performances, will have a local economic impact of $1 million.
