An all-day circus festival is coming to Swindon for its first year over the bank holiday weekend.
The Swindon Circus Festival celebrates circus and outdoor arts in a one-day event with acrobatics, comedy, aerial arts, and the chance to give it a go yourself.
This is the first year the project is being run by the new Swindon Circus and Outdoor Arts Project (SCOAP) who want to make the circus arts more accessible to Swindonians.
Jacob Hirsch-Holland, a festival producer, said: “I'm very excited. We've got some great shows and workshops lined up.
“You won’t have seen anything like this in Swindon before. It is a great opportunity to come and see such high-quality circus from all over the place in Swindon.”
Jacob is expecting around 300 people to come based on similar events he has run in the past.
He was responsible for a circus day at Lydiard Park in 2019 which attracted around 200 people.
At this event will be shows in circus tents, a comic show Fail Fail Fail Fail Win; dance theatre from Hello Buoys, cabaret by international performers as well as a workshop tent.
Workshops include a parkour workshop and juggling classes and there will also be plenty of outdoor space to for people to play in.
All this will be accompanied by music from Suitcase Sound, ‘filling the space with good musical vibes’ as well as local food options.
The festival coincides with the first day of the Swindon Festival of Literature and was originally planned as an alternative to the Literature Festival when it was briefly not going to happen.
Now that the Literature Festival is happening they are collaborating, with circus acts being included in a few other of the calendar’s events.
The event is pay-as-you-feel, with a suggested donation of up to £15, which plays into the accessible aim of SCOAP.
Jacob said: “It's not free, it's costs money. But we're not going to turn anybody away if you cannot afford a ticket.
“Our kind of main drive for this project is to be able to bring high quality circus and outdoor arts to the town in a way that is as accessible as possible.
“We really don't want people's financial situations to prevent them from having the opportunity to think that they could do outdoor art.”
SCOAP is based at Lower Shaw Farm where it runs workshops and performances. It recently received Arts Council England funding and offers a circus bursary for its classes.
The event is in Old Town's Lawn Woods on Monday, May 6 from 10am to 6pm.
See www.scoapuk.com/festival for more details.
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