At the heart of Khmer mythology there is a fascinating legend: the union between the Indian prince Kaundinya and the Naga princess Soma. Thousands of years ago, Cambodia was an island occupied by the Naga, half-human, half-serpent creatures, venerated as the...
If you haven’t already heard of SOK Dina, then prepare to be amazed. Dina is the first performer from Cambodia to join Cirque du Soliel in Montreal, Canada. Dina is also a circus alumnus from Phare Performing Arts School. From 2005 to 2011, Dina – and his friend and...
As a trans woman who is a Khmer traditional dancer, YOU Sarann faces endless discrimination. The 23-year-old Battambang native has dreamed of becoming a dancer since childhood, but many times, she’s wanted to give up. Fortunately, Phare Ponleu Selpak provides Sarann...
From all the teachers, students, and staff at Phare Ponleu Selpak: Happy World Circus Day! World Circus Day was founded on 17 April 2009 by the Federation Mondiale du Cirque to celebrate and promote traditional circus arts all over the world – and that includes...
Tini Tinou is back! And this year it’s going to be the biggest, boldest, and brightest edition of Tini Tinou ever! Mark your calendars from 22nd to 27th November 2024 for this week-long circus festival extravaganza right here in Battambang – the arts and cultural hub...
The Social Support program of Phare Ponleu Selpak is dedicated to improving the living standard of Cambodian children and their families in the community while engaging them in safeguarding children’s rights and well-being. This is made possible by the Social...
Grab a slice of birthday cake and prepare the fireworks, because it’s time to celebrate. This year, 2024, is the 30th anniversary of Phare Ponleu Selpak! The idea for Phare began in 1986 when French humanitarian Véronique Decrop worked as a drawing teacher in the...
You are cordially invited to join us for Phare Ponleu Selpak’s 30th anniversary celebrations in Phnom Penh from 1-3 March 2024. In addition to our annual charity gala – graciously hosted by Rosewood Phnom Penh – we are proud to co-produce and co-present two new...
Wow! What a strong finish to the first-ever Sangker River Run, and thank you to everyone who made it such an incredible success! On Saturday 20 January 2024, Phare Ponleu Selpak hosted the inaugural Sangker River Run, welcoming 140 runners and cyclists from (at least)...
With another year gone by, it’s time to reflect on everything that’s happened at Phare Ponleu Selpak in 2023. This past year, Cambodia has still been recovering from the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, and while international tourism numbers have been...
If you’re a fan of circus, then you know that one of the biggest circus festivals in Southeast Asia is returning this year to Battambang, Cambodia: the Tini Tinou International Circus Festival. In preparation for the 12th edition of Tini Tinou, circus artists from...
When you think of Cambodia, it’s easy to think about its amazing temples and ancient ruins – especially Angkor Wat – along with its rich cultural heritage. Khmer traditional dance is a key part of Cambodian arts and culture. In fact, the beauty and softness of...
Every student who is part of the free lunch program at Phare Ponleu Selpak knows SOM Savoeurn. For 17 years, she’s been the chef in the Phare kitchen helping the social support team by cooking nutritious meals for students in need or who live too far away. This...
If you’re ever traveling to Battambang in October, you might hear people talking about the water festival – or you might find yourself caught in the middle of it unknowingly if you’re down by the Sangker River and surrounded by racing boats and cheering crowds. ...
Did you know that Phare Ponleu Selpak has a TikTok account? Yep, you’ve been missing out this whole time! You might have already seen us on your “For You” page, but in case you haven’t, our new TikTok channel has got everything from interviews to “day in the life”...
It’s time to celebrate art, culture, and development in Battambang! Phare Ponleu Selpak and AFD – Agence Française de Développement – have joined forces to bring a new art festival to Battambang Province, Cambodia entitled: បាត់ដំបងក្នុងក្តីស្រមៃ / Battambang...
Changing lives through the arts requires the work of extraordinary teachers, staff, and volunteers from across Cambodia and all around the world. One volunteer we’re proud to have worked with is Juliette DELORON from Strasbourg, France. Juliette has been working...
When you purchase a ticket to the Phare Battambang Circus, did you know you’re supporting an entire community? It’s true. The funds from your ticket impact a wide variety of people and programs throughout Battambang Cambodia. But First… Before we dive into specifics,...
You might know about Phare Ponleu Selpak for our circus shows in Battambang or for the arts education we offer to children, youth, and young adults in the community, but did you know we also offer our students a wide range of social support programs? One of those...
2022 has come to a close, and it is with both pride and gratitude that we look back on all the things we have achieved in this first full post-lockdown year. The highlights are too many to count, but here – in words and in pictures – is our attempt. Guinness World...
Through a series of workshops in the fall, we’ve focused intensely on training Battambang’s public school kindergarten teachers on integrating arts in the education of young children. The first workshop took place back in September, where we hosted kindergarten...
December 18th marked a day we had been looking forward to for a very long time. After months of hard work, we were able to present our virtual fundraising gala “Fight for Light,” a one-of-a-kind musical circus adventure and multimedia love story about...
Cambodian non-profit Phare Ponleu Selpak completed an incredible journey that started on 7 March 2021, when it performed a 24-hour circus in a last-ditch effort to raise funds to survive the pandemic and set a Guinness World Record. Phare was finally able to announce...
Celebrating 3 Years of the Love Does Not Hurt Campaign On Friday 14 October, we held a Mini Arts Festival on our campus called “Today’s Tomorrow,” wrapping up all the lessons learned during the past three years of implementing the LDNH project. Love Does...
Out of the Tini Tinou International Circus Festival spotlight, which took everyone’s attention during the months of May and June, our education team was busy launching the community mobile library. Books have always played a significant role at Phare, engaging many...
How we are incorporating the arts into everything we do. And why it matters! Here at Phare Ponleu Selpak, we believe strongly in the power of the arts to change lives. And science is on our side! Many studies in Asia and around the world show that the arts have...
After the most difficult year in our history, including the closure of our circuses with disastrous impact on funding, we have triumphed against the odds to win four gold awards at the Stevie International Business Awards (IBAs)! Phare Ponleu Selpak has just been...
History was made at 08.10 am on Monday 8 March in Battambang, Cambodia when no less than 90 circus performers from Phare Ponleu Selpak took a final bow after a continuous circus performance that lasted 24h, 10min, and 30sec in a stunningly ambitious Guinness World...
Do you want to be a Guinness World Record Breaker? And help Phare survive the pandemic? Then please join us on March 6 & 7 for our thrilling virtual gala and record-breaking Longest Circus Peformance Ever! We want you to join us for ONE EXCITING HOUR, where...
Cirque du Cambodia is a documentary film showcasing the success story of Dina and Sopha, from their teenage years in Phare Performing Arts School until they became the first Cambodians to perform with the worldwide famous Cirque du Soleil. Starting on November 20,...
These are strange times we are living in. Behind the scenes of Phare Ponleu Selpak are slices of life stories, with their ups and downs, but mostly carrying with them the hope of brighter days to come. Listen to Phare voices, round #2! “I knew about Phare since...
Phare Ponleu Selpak has had the pleasure to co-organize a day of circus workshops to entertain and bring joy to the children of the « Metta Karuna » Center, a like-minded organization of Battambang Province which provides education and care to young people coming from...
Phare Ponleu Selpak is well known for its circus and arts schools, but did you know it is hosting a professional graphic design and animation studio under the very same roof, whose latest COVID-19 animation movie amassed more than a million views? Phare Creative...
Working in times of COVID-19 can be unsettling. Behind the scenes of Phare Ponleu Selpak, our staff and students tell us about their concerns and their strengths. ” What is happening is worse than anything I had expected. All art workshops, shows, outside...
Like many content creators around the world, who are responding to the COVID-19 crisis online with engaging public health videos, Minor Act has teamed up with us to create a very unique Cambodian creative response: “Wash Ya Handz!!!”. The music video, bursting with...
Koemyean comes from Kor Koh village in Battambang Province. He is 27, he’s a fashion designer, and he teaches graphic design in our Visual and Applied Arts School (VAAS). Not so long ago, he was a student in that very same school: « I enrolled in VAAS in 2013....
This year marks an important year for Phare Ponleu Selpak as we are celebrating our 25th anniversary! On this special occasion we organized two fundraising galas, one gala in Cambodia and one in France. Our heartfelt thanks go out to all our supporters in Cambodia...
Sokia, our physiotherapist at Phare, joined Phare Ponleu Selpak in 2004 and has been with us since the early days of our child support initiatives. Here’s what he has to say about the evolution of child support at Phare. “When I started at Phare, there were...
A brand new circus show called FENCE has been launched on our Battambang campus! This new performance is the fruit of a collaboration between our Performing Arts School and the Austrian Theater Der Sprachfehler. Its authors Andreas Jaehnert and Christian Kuehne spent...
Before joining Phare Ponleu Selpak, Xavier Gobin had a successful career as a dancer, collaborating with great creators such as Maurice Béjart and Jiri Kylian. However, very quickly, Gobin felt the desire to give others the same chances he had, of experiencing the...
Every year at Phare Ponleu Selpak, July marks the opportunity to reward the hard work of our graduates, who have been studying for up to 4 years in the Visual and Applied Arts School. We are celebrating the graduates starting a new chapter of their lives and launching...
For nearly 25 years, Phare Ponleu Selpak has been using the arts to transform the lives of children in Battambang, Cambodia. Originally, we helped refugee children cope with trauma through drawing and arts education. Over the years, we added more arts, including...
What do you imagine when you think about the sorts of classes circus artists take part in here at Phare Ponleu Selpak? Flips and trapezes? Sequins and tightropes? Not always. Recently, Phare performing arts students took part in financial literacy workshops thanks to...
![Pride Month Interview: How Trans Student Sarann Found Her Place as a Khmer Dancer at Phare Ponleu Selpak [Video]](https://phareps.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/sarann-trans-woman-khmer-dance-student-story-e1719826361206-800x675.jpg)
![Meet the Volunteers of Phare Ponleu Selpak: Juliette DELORON, Graphic Designer [Video]](https://phareps.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/volunteering-battambang-cambodia-phare-ponleu-selpak-juliette-deloron.jpg)
![What Worries Us & What Keeps Us Strong? Phare Voices [Part 2]](https://phareps.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Capture-decran-2020-10-02-a-16.19.38.png)
