The circus is coming to town ...

THE big top is coming to Barrow Park this summer as part of a bid to make the town a circus centre of excellence.

Last year thousands of residents were wowed by high-wire balancing acts and jugglers when Zircus Plus came to town and this year, organisers Lakes Alive, plan to make it better than ever.

As well as three days of performances the circus festival will also see modern circus acts from across Britain and overseas put on mini-shows at different locations in Barrow Park and the town centre.

It is hoped the event will become an annual one for Barrow and that it will put the town on the map as an internationally renowned circus town.

There will be a series of workshops in the run up to the event to give locals a chance to try their hand at unicycle, diabalo, acrobalance and even human-pyramid building.

Alison Barnes is project co-ordinator for Lakes Alive. She said: “The event will give people who wouldn’t normally come into the town the opportunity to see something spectacular. It’s also a chance for people already in the town to learn new skills and advance their current skills. There will be the opportunity to perform and share their skills at the festival itself."

"Eventually we want people from Barrow to be able to teach other local people circus skills. We’re working with local entertainer and magician Joel Dickinson and he’s onboard for the whole project – it’s crucial to us that we get local people involved in the actual teaching.

“This isn’t just going to be a one-off thing – we’re looking to develop it every year and next year there are murmurings of a flying trapeze being involved. There will be lots of opportunities for people to try different and new things.

“What we want to stress is that it won’t be the traditional idea of a circus with clowns and animals. It’s more about the new circus skills – quality is important to us.

“It’s also a way to meet new people and learn new skills and we want participants to see that it can be more than a hobby – you can make a career of it.”

To find out more visit http://www.lakesalive.org/.