Lunar Circus Information

The Lunar Circus was formed in 1995 in Australia. For many years we toured throughout Western and Central Australia complete with big tops, buses and caravans. With a collaboration of circus artists and musicians, we took the Lunar Circus show to some of the remotest corners of Australia. In 2002 we embarked on an even bigger adventure. We shipped the touring carnival to Singapore, from where we set off on an attempt to drive through China and Russia to Europe. We spent the next 12 months driving back and forth between Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia; performing at any opportunity and conducting all sorts of community workshop programs. In Sihanoukville, southern Cambodia, we ran a month long project for street kids which culminated in a performance that was open to tourists and the local community. In that moment, those kids were the stars of the circus rather than second rate citizens. We returned home to Australia having not quite accomplished what we set out to achieve, but having achieving much more than we set out to accomplish! In 2004 we established the Lunar Circus School. Each year we ran the January Summer School as well as The Lunar Circus Show in the Big Top in Margaret River. We invited international artists and tutors, starting a winter migration tradition for our northern hemisphere circus colleagues which continues to this day. At the same time, we started developing the Lunar Circus site in Karridale, 30 kms south of Margaret River between the Blackwood River and beautiful Hamelin Bay, in the heart of Australia's South-West corner. We were busy creating a special place where we could hold an annual circus festival. In 2007 we were ready, and on our new site we conducted a 2 week summer school, a week of festival training, and the first ever Western Australian Circus Festival. It was a huge success, with visitors from all over WA as well as interstate and overseas who demanded that we do it again! Now an annual event, you can come to Karridale to live and breathe the circus every January. During the 3 weeks of summer school and festival training, kids and adults converge on this unique place to train, learn new skills, give something challenging a go, meet new and interesting people and indulge in the life of the circus. Some stay in the dormitories (you can send your children to us and we'll look after them!); others bring the whole family and camp onsite for the full 3 weeks. Those who choose the 'unlimited' classes are in circus training from 9:30am to 5pm every day! After all that training, we host the Western Australian Circus Festival.