Principle Sources of Information on Circus and some Key Organisations

UK

The World’s Fair

2 Daltry Street, Oldham, Lancs OL1 4BB.
Tel 0161 624 3687
Fax 0161 785 313
wfair@worldsfair.co.uk
published weekly (75p), The World’s Fair has around two pages of gossip
and reviews on circus – both British and overseas. Available from newsagents
near markets, or ask your newsagent to order it.

Circus Friends’ Association
Membership Secretary, Wilf Fitton,
Kiln Hill House, Taylors Lane, Pilling
Lancs PR3 6AB
Tel: 01253 790716.
www.circusfriends.co.uk

If you would like to know where circuses are performing during a particular week, call Circusline on 09068-343341. The recorded message will give you details of tenting circuses and permanent circuses, as well as other news of thecircus world. The message is updated each Monday for the week. Calls cost 60p per minute.

King Pole circus magazine published quarterly, March, June (with annual Circus Directory of the British Isles),September and December, plus one King Pole Extra per year on a specific topic. Each issue, 32 pages, A4, with colour and b/w photos, news, reviews, profiles, historical and contemporary articles, obituaries, book and video reviews, model news, etc.

Circus Proprietors Association
PO Box 131
Blackburn
BN17 5LL
Fax: 01254 681 723
Represents circus proprietors.

National Association of Youth Circus
c/o Bob Fell / Andy Roberts
Skylight Circus Arts
Broadwater Centre
Smith Street
Rochdale
OL16 1HE
Tel: 01706 650676
Fax: 01706 713638
www.skylight-circus-arts.org.uk
e-mail: nayc@skylight-circus-arts.org.uk

The Clowns Museum
All Saints Centre
Haggerston Road
Hackney E8.
Curator: Mattie
Tel: 020 7608 0312
The museum is open to the public on the first Friday afternoon of every month. There is no entrance charge but all donations are gratefully received. Exhibits are mainly clown related but there are also some circus items on display.

The Theatre Museum
1e Tavistock Street
London WC2E 7PA
Tel 020 7379 1074
Fax 020 7379 1083
Has an extensive specialist collection on circus, but very little
on display.e-mail discussion forum on circus arts in Britain

Aerial Rigging Discussion Forum
Aims to establish a code of practice for rigging aerial equipment
for information contact Helen Crocker - info@circomedia.demon.co.uk

Rest of Europe

The French national association for development of Street Arts and Circus is:

Hors Les Murs
68 rue de la Folie-Méricourt
75011 Paris
Tel 00 33 1 55 28 10 10
Fax 00 33 1 55 28 10 11
Publishes a glossy quarterly magazine called Arts de la Piste
Publishes an annual directory called L’Annuaire des arts de la piste and a
quarterly news and listings bulletin called Le Bulletin
Has a very large book, video and poster library
documentation@horslesmurs.asso.fr

Centre National des Arts du Cirque
1, rue du Cirque
51000 Chalons-en-Champagne
France
Tel: 00 33 3 26 21 80 47
Fax: 00 33 3 26 21 80 38
Open to all – phone for times etc.
A very extensive library and index of books, videos,
magazines, posters and other circus related stuff.

Kaskade Juggling Magazine
Schönbergstr.92
D-65199 Wiesbaclen
Germany
Tel: 00 49 611 9465 142
Fax: 00 49 611 9465 143
kaskade@kaskade.de
A quarterly magazine about the juggling scene in Europe.

Canada

En Piste is the national regrouping of circus arts professionals in Canada
Their website gives lots of information about artists, companies and
training in Canada.
www.enpiste.qc.ca

USA

Circus Fans Association of America
Secretary/Treasurer
Irvin C. Mohler
PO Box 59710
Potomac
MD 20859-9710
USA
Publishes White Tops bi-monthly magazine.

Circus Historical Society
1075 West Fifth Avenue
Columbus
OH 43212
USA
Publishes Bandwagon magazine bi-monthly.

Spectacle magazine
PO Box 1420
Edison
New Jersey
NJ 08818-1420
Tel: (732) 247 7923
Fax:(732) 545 3302
Circusplus@AOL.com

American Youth Circus Organisation
The American Youth Circus Organization
www.americanyouthcircus.org
(603) 654-5235
PO Box 96
Temple, NH 03084
U.S.A.

Circus World Museum
426 Water Street, (Hwy. 113)
Baraboo, WI 53913
USA
Tel (608) 356-0800
www.circusworldmuseum.com
Circus World Museum is the world's largest historical attraction pertaining
to the circus. The 50-acre complex is located at the Ringling Bros. Circus
original winter quarters - a national historic landmark. Each year nearly
200,000 visitors tour the unique complex for an educational and fun family
experience.

Robert L. Parkinson Library & Research Center
The dynamic and intriguing history of the American circus is actively
collected, preserved, and made available by the Circus World Museum's
unparalleled Robert L. Parkinson Library and Research Center.
The Librarywas established in 1965 to manage and maintain the paper,
photographic and sound materials which had been deposited at the Museum.
The facility and the collections it houses are owned by the State Historical
Society of Wisconsin and managed by the not-for-profit Circus
World Museum Foundation. Anyone seeking information about the circus
and related topics, from casual browsers to those undertaking advanced
research, are welcome to use these resources.

Circus Federation of Australia
PO Box 1002
Springwood, 4127

Tel 07 3287 7255
Fax 07 3287 7244
E-mail circfed@powerup.com.au

Pro-Circus Magazine
28 Kawana Crescent
Springwood, 4127
Tel 07 3287 7101
Fax 07 3287 7244

Circus Fans of Australia
51 Oleander Street
Parafield Gardens, 5107
Tel 08 8258 7595

Recommended Reading on Circus

The Golden Age of the Circus by Howard Loxton, ISBN 1 84013 0202, Grange Books, 1997.
A good potted history of circus with many illustrations.

New Circus by Reg Bolton, ISBN 0903319373, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, 1987.
Although somewhat dated now, it provides a useful overview of the early years in the development of contemporary circus.

Le Cirque Contemporain (Theatre Aujourd’hui no. 7), ISBN 2-240-00549-1The Minister of Culture and Communication, Centre National de Documentation Pedagogique and the Minister of Education, 1998.
A fabulous look at contemporary circus and its link with tradition.The book includes a CD Rom.

The New American Circus by Ernest Albrecht.
A history of the revival of the one-ring circuses of Europe and Russia in America. This book features the one-ring shows of the Pickle Family, Big Apple, Circus Flora and Cirque du Soleil.

Aardvark Publishing - Specialist circus book publisher
Editor: David Jamieson, Fir Tree Cottage, Little Hormead, Buntingford,
Herts. SG9 0LU. Tel: 01763 289543. Fax: 01763 289676. E-mail:
aardvark.circuspubs@btinternet.com.

List includes Chipperfield's Circus – An Illustrated History, Bertram Mills - The Circus That Travelled By Train, Animals in Circuses and Zoos: Chiron's World, Introducing the Circus, and for children, Zippos Book of the Circus and associated packs for schools. List on request.