International line-up unveiled as Circus City tickets go on sale

Bookings are now open for the international programme of indoor and outdoor live performances being presented from September 30 to October 16 by Bristol’s biennial Circus City - the UK’s biggest festival of contemporary circus.

Full details of the programme’s combinations of circus skills, music, film, fire, theatre, dance, spoken word and more can be viewed/booked online now via www.bristolcircuscity.com with some free extras still to be announced and highlights including:

• The world premiere of BLAME GAME (Sept 30 to October 2, 1532 Theatre) in which the multi-national Kundle Cru company uses urban dance, juggling and Chinese pole to explore the politics of scapegoating.  

• LUMINOSA & LITTLE LUMINOSA (October 8 & 9, Circomedia) – age adjusted versions of a feel-good show featuring aerial dance, expert juggling, tipsy hoop swirling, live music, laughter and much more by some of the country’s leading circus performers.

• Artist activist, broadcaster and writer Scottee and friends present KERFUFFLE (October 15 and 16, The Mount Without) - a jukebox cabaret of camp classics for queer folk and their friends which may or may not require audiences to sing YMCA.

• JD Broussé, the only son of a 3rd generation baker and an award-winning acrobat in (LE) PAIN (October 15 and 16, Tobacco Factory) – sharing the comedy, tragedy and joys of bread-baking and a desire to escape the confines of strait-laced provincial France,, and gravity!

• BREATH OF BEGINNING (October 8 - 10, Tortworth Arboretum, north Bristol) – voted best family show at the Buxton Fringe Festival, join Whispering Woods in a forgotten arboretum for magical twilight performances combining aerial skills, dance and a bespoke musical soundscape. 

Festival director Kate Hartoch says: “In all, we’ll be presenting 35 performances by artists from all over the globe and offering everything from suggestive satire and stark social comment to family fun – all interwoven with audacious circus skills.”

She added: “Many of the shows are new and by artists and companies we’ve been supporting throughout lockdown – a period that’s been particularly harsh for freelance arts workers. The result, we feel, is a city-wide programme that is relevant, engaging and hopeful and which contains something of appeal to all ages and interests.”

To mark the programme’s unveiling, Circus City is running a lucky draw competition offering a pair of VIP tickets to all events: https://www.bristolcircuscity.com/vip-competition/.

To stay up-to-date with Circus City news, bookmark www.bristolcircuscity.com; find Circus City on Facebook; follow @CircusCity1 on Twitter & /or @bristolcircuscity on Instagram. 

Circus City is a biennial event based in Bristol, UK. It is funded by Arts Council England and Bristol City Council. Sponsorship opportunities are available. To ask about packages, please email hello@bristolcircuscity.com