Circus in Bristol: Free Circus Streets Festival Takes Over City Centre This Weekend

Bristol city centre will be transformed into an open-air circus this weekend, with aerialists, acrobats, jugglers and street performers taking over locations across the city on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 September.

Circus City will bring contemporary circus out of traditional venues and into public spaces including The Galleries, Broadmead and Trinity Centre Gardens, with most performances free to watch and ticketed evening shows rounding off the programme.

Running from 11.30am to 6.30pm across both days, the mini festival has been created by Circus City in partnership with outdoor arts company Tit for Tat, showcasing artists from Bristol and the South West.

At The Galleries, shoppers can catch Waiting Song by Mish Weaver, an aerial performance featuring two trapeze artists suspended above the audience in a musical conversation about their hopes for the future.

Set to live music, the piece blends aerial movement and song, incorporating thoughts gathered from audiences along the way. Free performances will take place at 12.15pm, 1.45pm and 3.45pm each day, with Sunday’s 1.45pm show BSL interpreted.

Across the city, the programme will bring together emerging artists and experienced street performers, including acts fresh from the street pitches of Edinburgh Fringe. Audiences can stop and watch for free, with those enjoying the busking performances invited to support artists by putting money in the hat or donating via QR code.

As the afternoon draws to a close, the action will move to Trinity Centre Gardens for the weekend’s ticketed performance, ElevateHer by Daughters of the Wire.

Performed among the trees across three interconnecting tight-wires, the show brings together the UK’s only all-female wire-walking collective in a celebration of female camaraderie and sisterhood.

Through storytelling, music, movement and feats of balance, six women explore risk, resilience, friendship and challenge both on and off the wire, combining spectacle with joy, defiance and humour.

Tickets for ElevateHer are on sale now, with Sunday’s performance BSL interpreted. https://www.trinitybristol.org.uk/whats-on/2026/elevateher-daughters-of-the-dust

Circus Streets is also a pilot for Circus City’s ambition to develop a larger outdoor circus festival in Bristol, exploring how free performance in public spaces can introduce contemporary circus to new audiences and strengthen the city’s outdoor arts scene.

Nicole A’Court Stuart, Artistic Director at Circus City, said: “Circus has such a strong history and community in Bristol, and Circus Streets is about taking that energy out into the city and putting brilliant artists in front of people who may not otherwise encounter contemporary circus.

“We want people to be able to stop, watch and enjoy something extraordinary without there being a barrier to taking part. Most of the programme is free and, where artists are busking, audiences can choose to support them directly if they can.

“This weekend is also a chance to explore what a bigger outdoor circus festival for Bristol could look like. There’s huge potential here to create something that feels rooted in the city, supports artists and gives more people the opportunity to experience live circus.”

The event builds on more than a decade of Circus City activity in Bristol. Since launching in 2015, the organisation has reached more than 20,000 audience members and participants and presented more than 250 artists across 250 performances and events.

Its 2025 festival attracted 4,896 audience members, with 60% attending Circus City for the first time and 28% experiencing contemporary circus for the first time.

The pilot also comes at an important time for the sector. Bristol City Council has identified circus as an ‘at risk’ artform through its Artist Conversations work informing the city’s long-term cultural strategy, and has commissioned Circus City to explore the needs and opportunities facing the sector locally.

Circus City’s 2025 festival invested £122,000 back into Bristol, including £60,000 in artist fees. Almost half of its audience was under 35, while 30% came from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

Circus Streets is supported by Bristol BID and Arts Council England.

For more information, visit https://www.bristolcircuscity.com/