News / Arts
Circus City coming to Bristol in October
Bristol’s status as the world’s leading circus city will be cemented in October with the launch of new biennial festival.
Circus City will mix circus with dance, theatre, comedy and puppetry, and feature home-grown talent alongside award-winning European shows including one world premiere by a Bristol artist and two UK premieres.
Shows will take place in a host of venues including Circomedia, Bristol Old Vic, Tobacco Factory Theatres, Arnolfini and Trinity Centre as well as outdoor spaces, with an eclectic mix of live circus performance, talks, masterclasses, have-a-go sessions and workshops, including a half-term programme of shows for families.
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Festival highlights include Swedish company Sisters with their gravity defying show Clockwork, combining street contemporary dance, acrobatics and physical theatre; the hauntingly beautiful circus theatre show L’Enfant Qui… by Belgian company Theatre D’un Jour; madcap Irish performers Lords of Strut with their anarchic dance comedy Chaos; and the award-winning acrobatic Barely Methodical Troupe who bring their critically acclaimed Edinburgh smash Bromance.
There will also be a range of work taking place in secret locations and outdoor spaces including Marie Celestial, a show performed on board a mechanical, space-faring vessel that has crash landed on earth; the Bullzini Family travelling around in their showman’s trailer to perform breathtaking tight wire performances; and a site specific promenade performance, Kitchen Circus Project, a community project with Hengrove residents and artists Rebecca Tantony, Dom Breadmore and Tit for Tat in collaboration with Cirque Bijou and Knowle West Media Centre.
Circus City will also join forces with The Cube and 20th Century Flicks to host some circus-themed film screenings including Naomi Smyth’s feature length documentary Invisible Circus: No Dress Rehearsal.
Festival producers Kate Hartoch and Lina B Frank said: “Bristol is a hot bed of circus activity that Circus City hopes to celebrate, explore and stimulate. It is very much the next step for the city as it learns from past experiences, gathers the existing circus activity already around and propels it forward towards truly being a City of Circus.”
For more festival information and detailed listings, visit www.bristolcircuscity.com.
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