Sunday 6 May 2012

All the Fun of the Circus Celebrated in World Circus Day 2012


We all know that 1 April is April Fools Day. How many people know that in each April a day is set aside to celebrate the circus? 

Celebrations took place around the world on 21 April, the Third annual World Circus Day organised by the Fédération Mondiale du Cirque. From acrobatic troupes in China to social circus in Ecuador and youth circus in Finland to classical circus in South Africa, World Circus Day was recognized in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas and the Middle East. Nation-wide print media, television and radio publicized World Circus Day in Afghanistan, Peru and Australia with many reports of local announcements and media attention still coming in to the Federation.

The majority of World Circus Day events involved youth and amateur circus troupes, demonstrating the wide-spread public interest in Circus. Famous circus names participating in World Circus Day included Joseph Ashton, Webers, Stardust, and Lennon Bros. in Australia, Brian Boswell’s Circus in South Africa, India’s Rambo Circus, Kinoshita of Japan, Cyrk Korona in Poland, Cirque Medrano–France, Circus Krone and Charles Knie in Germany, Italian Circo Moira Orfei and Circo Medrano-Casartelli, MACIVA in Hungary, Globus in Romania, Riga Circus in Latvia, Baltijos Cirkas in Lithuania, and Grand Circo Mundial of Spain. Famous names leading celebrations in North America were Cirque du Soleil, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and Big Apple Circus.

World Circus Day
In Australia, we had 10 companies officially participate in World Circus Day; these included Slipstream Circus Inc, Circus Monoxide, Flipside Circus, Circus Royale, Circus Joseph Ashton, Webers Circus, Stardust Circus, Double Creation Productions, Lennon Bros. Circus and Ashton Entertainment.

The national circuses and troupes of the Democratic Republic of Korea, China, Uzbekistan, and Cuba also celebrated with special performances. Circus friends organizations hosted and participated in celebrations in Denmark, France, Germany and the United States with World Circus Day cake consumed from Australia to the United States. Special events were also organised by circus museums, archives, historical societies and arts foundations. 

Announced on World Circus Day was the theme of the 2012 Federation Photo Contest: “The Art of Happiness”. The Contest opened on 1 May 2012 to all professional and amateur photographers. Details are in the article I posted yesterday on this Magazine website.

World Circus Day
Photographs and media reports of World Circus Day events registered with the Federation are available online at www.circusfederation.org. 

Celebrated on and around the third Saturday each April, World Circus Day is a special day for families all over the world to celebrate the magic of the circus. The Fourth World Circus Day will be celebrated on 20 April 2013.

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