Wes Peden performs original tricks inspired by rollercoasters and their high-tech seatbelts. A spinning plate ceremony becomes a celebration of the great rides of

Winner of Best Family Friendly Show at Brighton Fringe 2025 A visual comedy spectacle featuring world class tricks, contagious laughter and a show-stopping, toothbrush-wielding,

One dancer, one aerialist, and one rope tethered together in R-evolving relationship. In this performance, the artists fight for time to care for themselves,

“A conjurer is not a juggler; he is an actor playing the part of a magician; an artist whose fingers have more need to

Gather around the fire and let us remind you of what it was to be afraid of the dark. Don’t build the fire too

‘Come for a new perspective on bicycle riding. Stay for the heartwarming humour and charisma of the brilliant acrobatic pair.’ Acrobatic duo Alta Gama

Gather around the fire and let us remind you of what it was to be afraid of the dark. Don’t build the fire too

A heart-stopping circus show unravelling the profound beauty of self-discovery on a trans woman’s path. Taking the haunting feeling of having murdered her former

Contortionist, snake-woman, slug. I bend into your imagination… Combining trapeze, contortion, performance art and power ballad, this intimate solo explores romanticised depictions of the

A mesmeric show combining exhilarating acrobatics, adrenaline-pumping street dance and breath-taking roller skating, set on a giant moving treadmill. RPM explores the tragic, comic

Start the week with surreal sensation My!Laika and Bristol-based artists Charles Brockbank and Gráinne Young-Monaghan, in a brilliant and bizarre evening of three short

She’s got news – news she wasn’t expecting. Ever felt in desperate need of a haircut or a life reset? Wished your troubles away

Armour explores issues of masculinity and virility, with the desire to offer a different perspective. Drawing from the choreography of wrestlers and gladiators, three

A workshop for circus performers and movers of all disciplines. Exploring listening to yourself and how you feel, as a starting point for movement,

Experience juggling Gandini style! Join Gandini for a masterclass in their juggling techniques and exercises and learn about the process of this world-leading company.

Producer surgeries are back! Book a slot to come and have an informal 30 minute chat with a circus city producer. Be you an

A space for Bristol producers to network, share joy and challenge and build links and solidarity. Join us for a drink and a chat.

This workshop, organised by No Magic artists Julie Bergez and Elise Reine, focuses on delving into the artistic essence of each participant with delicacy,

Join us as we gather for a day of exchange and networking and shape the future of advocacy and education in UK contemporary circus.

Come see new circus work in the making! As part of Circus City’s New Authors micro-commission programme, three micro-commissioned artists Jade England–Johns, Natalie Reckert and Jean-Daniel Broussé,

An exhibition by photographer Guy Bellingham FRPS. Guy has spent the last three decades performing in circus and cabaret, over the past five years

Join us to celebrate the opening of Circus City 2025 with a screening of 7 short circus films from across the world in Millennium

This workshop is for anyone with a desire to find more mobility in their movements and can be applied to circus disciplines (both floor

The last few years have been difficult for the arts, but circus especially. The circus sector needs support now more than ever. How can

What does the sports world think about circus? What’s the relationship between circus and play? What can the sports and play worlds learn from

Workshop with David Eisele, Kolja Huneck and Michael Zandl from Sawdust Symphony‘ Giving everyday objects a new life: In this workshop, we will work

Laura Murphy will offer an insight into the making process underpinning their unique performance practice, which connects and combines autobiographical writing with aerial choreography,

This workshop is a guide on movement as a tool for intentional creativity. The focus is on practical mobility: working on points of contact

Oh No, George! is the delightfully playful tale of a dog who wants to be good but just can’t resist temptation. Adapted from the

Join Laura on a mission to serve herself up [in]appropriately for your consumption, in a bold, cinematic, acrobatic odyssey through the frontiers of mental

An opportunity to catch some of the best up and coming South West based circus artists as they share new ideas and work in

A night of fresh alternative comedy mixed with circus theatre. Two new experimental shows, from Bristol-based emerging artists, bringing you something you’ve never seen

“Hello? Is somebody there?” Ash is a circus artist living a quiet and content life in Valencia, when one day a mundane encounter triggers

Let your heart soar amongst the mighty cathedral of the forest, with an evening of breathtaking aerial dance and euphoric choral performance from Whispering

Tess is a groundbreaking adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s classic novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles. An ensemble of performers weave together Hardy’s words and the

The man balances the stick on various parts of his body, thereby setting himself and the stick in motion. If the man has an

Craftsmanship confronting circus. In Sawdust Symphony Michael Zandl, David Eisele and Kolja Huneck combine their passion for crafting, fresh wood and object manipulation. Sawdust

Lanky loidlings. Squishy Schloompings. Spiky Spa-doo-dlings. Marina Cherry squeaks, zooms, and tiptoes through a micro-space. Fragmenting pieces of a spunky personal universe puddle over

“Noise Juice” is the first full-length show of the Finnish company Muovipussi. The show combines music, circus, theatre and surprising illusions. Grandmas, Barbies and

We use it every day without a second thought, the most common form of plastic – polystyrene. In this remarkable piece of visual theatre,

Save the books! A joyful, hilarious adventure for all the family. Four bedraggled book enthusiasts are travelling from town to town – forced between

A Show of Hands is a short intimate solo show investigating Cassani’s relationship with his hands and the thinking that happens with and through

Come join Quiplash for an intro session on integrated audio description for circus and movement. Be prepared to move, play, explore and (of course)

Book a slot to come and have an informal 25 minute chat with a circus city producer. Be you an artist or producer yourself,

Join us for pitches and presentations of work in progress from our three New Authors micro commissioned artists and companies. With three 30 minute

Iterations centres on Cassani’s fifteen-year obsession with the skill and precision of sleight of hand. It invites us to think about how we think

Fusing physical theatre, spoken word and song Black Sheep is the story of a queer Black woman finding love, after retiring from her full-time job as sword swallower.

To launch Circus City 2023, Ockham’s Razor perform their new free outdoor show PUBLIC at The Podium in Broadmead, Saturday 29 July.

Ves-tigios is a journey through a dystopian wasteland that fuses stunning physical performance with film to create a remarkable visual journey all about brotherhood.

Age: All ages   Metalworker Felix Rowberry has been working with local young people to create some wonderful fire sculptures especially for Redcatch Park

Running Time: 20 min Short Film Age: 16+  Contains nudity   Starring Laura Murphy as herself amidst the failing performance of Western civilisation, A

Running Time: 1 Hour Age: 7+ World Premiere   In Blame Game this company of innovators explores the dirty politics of scapegoating.  Sometimes our

Running Time: 1 Hour Age: 16+ Frank discussion of sexuality and mental health,  strong language World Premiere   Olga is waiting to transform into

Running Time: 2 Hours 30 mins Age: 16+   VOLT will see emerging circus creators from different backgrounds take to the stage to share

Running Time: 1 Hour Age: All Ages   An immersive experience in ancient woodland.  As autumn touches the forest, come and meet us in

Running Time: 1 Hour 30 Mins Age:12+/ all ages for Saturday Matinee   Fresh from Bogotá, one of the world’s leading circus companies brings

Running Time: 25 mins followed by a 20 minute relaxed workshop. Age: 5+ All relaxed performances   Watch two acrobats become immersed in the

Running Time: 1 Hour Age: 10+ – contains partial female nudity   On the eve of the apocalypse, Long Play is a cry of

Running Time: 1 Hour 30 Mins Age:16+ partial nudity and strong language   A jukebox circus cabaret of camp classics for queers and their

Running Time: 1 Hour Age: 14+ contains nudity World Premiere   Jean Daniel Broussé is the only son of a 3rd generation baker. Destined

Running Time: 1 Hour Age: 16+   Led by an anarchic and relentlessly offensive heroine, Cockroach is socio-political physical theatre, up to the eyeballs

In this world première from Finland, the audience will escape the chaos outside to enter a mysterious world that awaits within a giant white shape-shifting tent by the sea. Explore the ephemeral moments that exist between sunset and the arrival of dusk – the turning point at which the world morphs from day into night.

Femmes of Colour’s ‘Hive City Legacy’ is an explosive concoction of beatboxing, aerial acrobatics, spoken word and body-popping dance in a cabaret style show that will uplift, boundary break and celebrate. ‘Explosive and invigorating’ ★★★★ The Stage

Drawing from circus, stand-up comedy and live art, Laura Murphy’s ‘Contra’ is a solo-cabaret of contradictions. Fierce, witty and uncompromising, it’s a highly physical show that interrogates personal, social and historical occupations of the female body.

This is fresh, exceptional work from Australian Sarah Houbolt – a Sydney 2000 Paralympian, a disability advocate and an award-winning, critically-acclaimed circus and physical theatre performer.

With a cast ranging from 13 to 60 years old, This Time combines circus, autobiographical storytelling and original equipment to create compelling visual theatre. It looks at love, support and struggle in families alongside perceptions of strength and ability: how we are strong in different ways at different times in our lives.

À Nos Fantômes (To Our Ghosts) by Company Menteuses melds risk with raw emotion and explores the paralysis and potential of life. It’s a cinematic and sometimes surreal piece of aerial theatre from a bright young Belgian company.

Circus Shorts is a fantastic opportunity to see a night of emerging work by a range of artists working with circus. Look forward to an evening brimming with new ideas, innovative approaches and experimental skills all freshly served up for your enjoyment.

Welcome to the topsy-turvy world of Plink and Boo. Using acrobatics, live music and mountains of toys, get ready to join in this interactive circus theatre adventure. Explore what happens when people don’t fit into boxes…even if it is the neatest place to put them. ​

Two besties are seeking some top-notch cookie hunters and the help of some quick-thinking, team-playing adventurers. Could that be you? It’s going to take guile, cunning and wit – not to mention ropes, hoops and balloons – to help our colourful cookie-fiends reach the treats that await on the top shelf…

Join the adventure and watch this jumping, gymnastic, climbing and swinging exploration as they climb the highest of heights, jump the biggest of jumps and maybe even…fly! Reach is suitable for deaf and hearing-impaired audiences.

In this first for Bristol, Bromance’s original and outstanding cast examines camaraderie and masculine affection in a touching, exhilarating tour-de-force of physical heroics, where handshakes become handstands and backslaps become backflips.

Expect an intensely rhythmical, playful, visually satisfying and emotive piece of circus that unfolds to an uplifting soundtrack by great British musicians. Outside the Club is the slickly choreographed and thought-provoking first show from Broken Box – a collective of three graduates from the UK’s two circus schools: Circomedia and the National Centre for Circus Arts.

Sanctuaire Sauvage is a live sound performance that uses the body to produce an acoustic universe. It is centred on the state of blindness and is freely inspired by the lives and stories of blind people.

A Different Beast is an acrobatic exploration of the human psyche. It’s packed with twisted techniques and incredible physicality. Using dance, chinese pole, acrobatics and live music, four extraordinarily eccentric characters strive to simply exist in a bleak, decaying world.

Fauna is now sold out on Thursday, October 12th and Friday, October 13th. There are a handful of tickets left for the 14:00 show

Higgledy-Piggledy is a photographic exhibition portraying several professional circus artists. Taking place mainly outdoors, the photographs break the limit of the stage and bring

Risk; what does it mean to you? How does it show up in your life? Are you a daredevil cliff jumper, a reckless romantic,

Circus Futures offers a free performance of Circus Next Laureates Circus Katoen. In “As Heavy As It Goes” Circus Katoen explore different aspects of

As a Tiger in the Jungle tells the story of performers Renu Ghalan and Aman Tamang who left their homes in Nepal with dreams

A fine selection of pieces by the recent graduates of Circomedia’s first BA(Hons) year. As they set out on their various paths into the

Risking it – with Circus City and Groupe Bekkrell. Following the cancellation of The Bekkrell Effect, Circus City and Bristol Old Vic invite the

This female led company tackle the concept of success from a young woman’s perspective. What does success means, how it is measured? How does

We are very sorry to announce that, due to serious injury of a performer, we have to cancel The Bekkrell Effect by Groupe Bekkrell. Bristol Old

Enter the velvet world of cabaret in 1920s Vienna for an evening of poetic jazz and aerial performance infused with the smoky tones of

You’re handed a remote control, what will happen when you push the button? With much at stake and little chance of success Long Shot

The Swing Circus Cabaret Show Come join our swing circus cabaret in the beautiful setting of the Trinity Arts Centre’s Fyfe hall. Performances include

Announcing our Bristol Cabaret Commission! Bristol based company Lavrak present an interactive comedy cabaret, subtly referencing and celebrating the Bristol culture. Cirque Du Sillé

On Morocco’s old pirate coast, a new generation of pirates are setting sail in one of Morocco’s first professional circus school. Cirque Shems’y overlooks

Substratum is a unique outdoor performance event, created for the walls of one of Bristols most iconic buildings, the Tobacco Factory. Combining acrobatic dance

by Angeliki Meli The circus apparatus is this space, in which the circus artist grows up and spent most of their time. What turns

Around is a fun, tender show about the life of a circus troupe as they overcome hardship through collaboration and cooperation. A drum machine

Pop into Faith Space in central Redhill, Bristol between 10-2pm on the 25th of October for some free family fun! Have-a-go sessions for all

Becoming follows the different journeys of the young artists involved and their experiences of identity and growing up. Becoming is a comment on our politics,

Circus feats to a swingin’ beat!  Its impossible to hear swing music without a smile on your face or tapping your feet.  This event

When people ask me about my brother I usually give them the short answer: he has severe learning disabilities, epilepsy and autism. He Ain’t

Daring work from the UK’s premier aerial theatre company, a feast of high risk brilliance performed with grace and power. Five performers held within

Join us to celebrate Halloween and the ending of Circus City 2017 with the Invisible Circus at these historic, cavernous tunnels under Temple Meads

Through Circus City’s partnership with Circus Futures, it’s our pleasure to present a rather special late addition to our festival programme. Flaque is a

Invisible Youth invite you to experience a social circus performance, group-devised over five afternoons by the young people from Felix Road Adventure Playground in

Wardrobe Theatre regulars, Squeezy Green and Finney Haddock present this unique two-show special of circus themed games, so come test your skills, take a

Leading up to the festival, Ruth Baldry’s portraits of circus performers in Bristol will be exhibited in this iconic space. The project has focused

The concept of Clockwork comes from Sisters obsession with perfecting the timing between their bodies. They need to depend on each other both physically

The Invisible Circus invite you into the heart of their new Creation Space in St Phillips for a salubrious soiree of circus, theatre and

The Kitchen Circus Project combines circus, spoken word and digital arts in a site-specific promenade performance that takes place in Hengrove. Artists Rebecca Tantony,

A mysterious metallic vessel of unknown origin has crash-landed on earth. Departed from an unknown location in outer space, it has seen untold wonders

A discussion focusing on women in contemporary circus and a double bill of work-in-progress performances by Bristol based VOLT supported artists Maddie McGowan and

UK premiere. The mud man is a figure, a myth. He is in every one of us – the primal being, always struggling, to

Circus City is sponsored by DASH Digital Cash – Come join us for a friendly informal introduction to cryptocurrencies such as Dash and Bitcoin.

For two days during the festival, the Bullzini family will travel round the neighbourhoods of Bristol in their beautiful showman’s trailer, teaching people to

A blending of live music with acrobatics and puppetry that creates a child’s sensitive, poetic view of the world. Presented in-the-round for two days only.

When you realise you are a character in a game, what do you do? Game is a three man circus-theatre show exploring how games

A series of films that put circus centre stage. First out at the Cube Microplex, on the opening night of the festival is Naomi

World premiere. One-to-One: Encounter You enter a space alone, but you are not alone. You hear breathing. In this one-to-one experience Ziggy explores the

COLOURFUL, MAGICAL ADVENTURE Celebrate that special time before sleep where bedtime stories are told and imagination and dreams take hold. Tucked up with your

The Invisible Circus invite you into the heart of their new Creation Space in St Phillips for a salubrious soiree of circus, theatre and

The Circus City team are really sorry to announce that, due to an artist injury, Bromance by Barely Methodical Troupe has been cancelled. We

SLAPSTICK FUN AND QUIRKY STORYTELLING The Hogwallops are a crazy, grotesque family who constantly bicker, scheme and play practical jokes on each other. Their

Fame obsessed and socially impaired, the Lords of Strut are back! Join Ireland’s most emotional dancers as they share their “bullet proof” secret to

UK premiere. Women, sex and circus. Absurd, insane and magnificent; three women throw themselves at female stereotypes – building them up and tearing them

Circus City End Party – Secret Location Revealed and extra date added Come and help us toast the end of Circus City 2015 on

Starring four of the world’s most exciting circus artists, Metta Theatre bring the award-winning author Jeanne Willis and Gwen Millward’s enchanting story spectacularly to

Circomedia is thrilled to relaunch VOLT, Bristol’s circus scratch night. VOLT is a vital platform for emerging South West circus artists to try out and develop their work. Meet circus’s next wave of physical fantasists.