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World Circus Day - 3rd Saturday in April
Photograph by Gabor Barbely on Unsplash.com
World Circus Day is a very new holiday and only began its celebrations in 2010. Circuses are celebrate all around the world on the third Saturday of April. The holiday was founded through a partnership between the European Circus Association and the World Circus Federation, which was founded in 2008 and aims to support the artistic endeavors of circuses worldwide. The major goal of World Circus Day is to celebrate and promote the arts and culture of circus and hopefully encourage more people to become involved in circus performance.
Circus History Facts!
- The history of the circus can be traced back to the Roman era, where one of the most famous circuses could host 250,000 people at a time!
- The first modern circus can be traced back to April 1768 when Philip Astley first opened an ampitheater to perform horse tricks on a circle stage.
- Circus tents were first used in 1825 by Joshuah Purdy and slowly took over the cricus world because they were easier to use and helped circuses become more mobile.
- Circus as we see nowadays often feature more theatrical and story-based performances, and these performances began in the 1970s.
Check out these circus crafts and activities below for some great ideas to help celebrate World Circus Day!
Fun Facts about Circuses!
- The word circus comes from the latin word meaning circle or ring
- There are a bunch of different circus acts - tightrope walking, juggling, aerial hoop and silks, animal training, baton twirling, acrobalance, flying trapeze, hand balancing and walking, lasso, knife throwing, puppetry, trampolining, tumbling, mime, pogo sticking, and SO much more!
- Many acts require several performers to ensure the safety of the main performer. For example, a performer doing something in the air requires a base to lift and catch them and a spotter to protect them.
- There are schools and camps that teach circus skills and performance.
- There are some circus superstitions that performers follow to avoid bad luck such as not being allowed to whistle backstage or enter the ring with the left foot.