Modern juggling culture

Since the late 1980s, a large juggling culture has developed, revolving around local clubs and organizations, special events, shows, magazines, video sharing websites, Internet forums, juggling competitions and juggling conventions. Populating the scene are many juggling celebrities who are notable for being good or creative jugglers, entertaining performers, convention organizers, experts in their field, having a strong presence online or just for having an interesting personality, character or style.

When you pulled out three balls in 1973, what was going through people's minds was, 'I saw a deformed midget do that once.' But when you pulled out three balls in the '80s, it was, 'a guy in my dorm room used to do that.'

It has developed into a fully formed subculture, with tens of thousands of followers.

Most cities and large towns have juggling clubs, where anyone is welcome to learn and share skills. Many universities and colleges have juggling or circus skills societies. There are also many community circus groups that usually aim to teach young people and put on shows.

The first organization to promote juggling and help jugglers was the International Jugglers' Association (IJA), based almost entirely in North America. The World Juggling Federation (WJF) promotes more technical juggling, in contrast to the "performing" emphasis of the IJA. The European Juggling Association facilitates the annual European Juggling Convention and promotes juggling in Europe. Various countries have national associations, including Italy, Israel, Spain, and Switzerland. There is also the Christian Jugglers Association.

Kaskade was a European juggling magazine, published in both English and German. It was discontinued in 2013 and all its issues were made available online. Juggle is the official publication of the IJA and focuses on the North American scene.Juggling Magazine is published in Italy and Newton Las Pelotas is published in Argentina and Spain for the Latin American readership.

World Juggling Day is the Saturday nearest 17 June (the day the IJA was founded in 1947). There are events organized worldwide to teach people how to juggle, to promote juggling, or for jugglers to get together and celebrate.

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