July 4-6: The circus is coming to town
March 31, 2023 | By Lisa Scagliotti 
Circus Smirkus 2023 Big Top Tour poster. Courtesy image
When Circus Smirkus, Vermont’s home-grown traveling youth circus, hits the road this summer, its first stop will be Waterbury for the 4th of July.
Farr’s Field will host Circus Smirkus at the start of its 36th Annual Big Top Tour of New England. Officials with the Greensboro-based nonprofit confirmed this week that the tour’s Central Vermont summer dates are planned for Waterbury as its longtime stop in Montpelier is no longer viable. Changes to the grounds at Montpelier High School which has hosted the circus for years have made the site not suitable for the big top set-up, explained Michelle Gudorf, administrative coordinator at Circus Smirkus.
The events field along U.S. 2 in Waterbury was a good alternative in the region. Owner John Farr said he’s been talking with the circus for several years about planning a stop in Waterbury. It almost happened last year, but the circus schedule only would have worked for the weekend that the popular antique car show was booked for the field. This year, they started planning earlier, Farr said.
Circus Smirkus will be held at Farr’s Field along U.S. Rt. 2. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
The Circus Smirkus summer tour opens July 1 in Greensboro. Then it hits the road. Its schedule lists a total of 62 shows in 14 towns across five states over seven weeks this summer.
Waterbury is its first stop on the road with five performances, Tuesday through Thursday, July 4, 5 and 6.
Farr said the timing was perfect given that Waterbury celebrates Not Quite Independence Day before July 4. “There’s no conflict there,” he said.
This year’s NQID celebration – as it’s called for short – will take place on June 24, according to the Waterbury Rotary Club.
The summer circus tour is the first full schedule for the youth circus since 2019, Gudorf said. Last year had a scaled-back number of shows as it emerged from its pandemic pause.
The traveling troupe always includes several Vermont locations on the tour and this year, all three of the in-state locations aside from the Smirkus headquarters in Greensboro are new. In addition to Waterbury, Smirkus plans performances at Bombardier Park in Milton July 11-13 and at the Vermont State Fairgrounds in Rutland July 15-16. The tour wraps up Aug. 18-19 back at the Smirkus Circus Barn in Greensboro.
Waterbury’s performances will be at 6 p.m. each day with 1 p.m. shows on July 5 and 6. Tickets go on sale starting on May 1.
This year’s circus cast of 30 young circus performers range in age from 11 to 18 and hail from 12 states: seven from California, five from New Hampshire, four from Massachusetts, three each from Rhode Island and New York, two from New Jersey, and one each from Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. None are from Vermont this year.
For each tour, Circus Smirkus has a special theme with storytelling weaving through each act. The theme this summer is “A Midsummer Night’s Circus,” billed as “an exquisite acrobatic adaptation” of William Shakespeare’s comedy, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” complete with the classic play’s mythical character. The Smirkus 2023 tour announcement describes the setting as an enchanted forest “where sprites contort in the trees and fairies fly through the air… Trouble ensues when they all cross paths with the king and queen of the fairies, their fantastical court, and the chief mischief-maker, Puck!”
The shows feature an array of circus arts — including aerials, acrobatics, juggling, and clowning — along with colorful costumes, lots of energy and humor. The circus does not include any animals in its shows.
From July 1 through mid-August the tour travels with a caravan that requires some 23 support vehicles and 80 people — including performers, coaches, cooks, tech and tent crew and a live circus band that plays an original score written specifically for the show. Part of the experience for the youth performers is to be immersed in circus life where their daily routine includes training, chores, loading and unloading, along with performing.
Founded in 1987, Circus Smirkus is the only traveling “tented” youth circus in the United States, performing under a traditional European-style circus tent that seats 750. Smirkus estimates that more than 40,000 patrons will see the show this summer.
A complete schedule and more information is online at smirkus.org under the heading Big Top Tour. Tickets for each performance will be available starting on May 1 online and by calling 1-877-SMIRKUS. Sponsorship opportunities are still available as well.
Here in Waterbury, Circus Smirkus is on a list of spring and summer events with applications for entertainment permits before the Waterbury Select Board. Reviewing and approving the permits is on the board’s to-do list for April, according to Town Clerk Karen Petrovic.
She said the circus organization is well-versed in the logistics involved in planning for their events. “I’m sure they will be able to jump through all the hoops necessary,” she said.
Based in Greensboro, Circus Smirkus is a nonprofit arts and education organization with a mission to promote the skills, culture and traditions of the traveling circus. In addition to its Big Top Tour, its other youth circus programs are an annual summer Smirkus Camp and its Smirkus School Residency.