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You're invited to join the circus at this free New West festival

If you’ve always been fascinated by the magic of the circus, this one’s for you.
aerial silks, circus arts
The magic of aerial silks is just one of the circus arts on display at the upcoming Festival of Circus Arts at Westminster Pier Park.

If you’ve always been fascinated by the magic of the circus, this one’s for you.

Everyone’s invited to a free Festival of Circus Arts, featuring workshops, demonstrations and a circus performance, that’s being held at Westminster Pier Park next weekend. The festival is set for Sunday, Aug. 25 from 3 to 7:30 p.m.

Workshops and demonstrations will run from 3 to 6 p.m. Folks of all ages will be able to try out circus arts such as juggling, stilt walking, diablo and more. Paired with those workshops will be demonstrations of some more technical circus arts, such as hand balancing, aerial silks and a Cyr wheel. (If you don’t know what a Cyr wheel is, you’ve probably seen one in use – it’s an acrobatic apparatus that’s just one large aluminum or steel ring. A performer stands inside and holds the rim, making the wheel move and spin while doing acrobatic moves within it.)

To cap off the festival, professional circus artists will come together for an evening show from 6 to 7:30 p.m., featuring a variety of circus disciplines on an outdoor rig that will include aerial arts.

The festival is being co-presented by Peter Leblanc, a local resident, along with Travis Johnson, who operates Vancouver Circus School in New Westminster, and New West residents Chris Johnston and Kimmie Dioszeghy, who operate West Coast Flying Trapeze in Pitt Meadows.

It’s come about as part of a new place-making grant program offered by the Downtown New Westminster BIA.

Check out www.circusarts.ca or check out the Festival of Circus Arts event on Facebook.