Giffords Circus

Giffords Circus is a traditional English circus that tours the Cotswolds and south of England every summer, also performing at Chiswick House.^[1]

History

Established in 2000, Giffords Circus is a small circus company, founded by Nell Gifford and her husband Toti Gifford,^[2] that tours market towns of central South West England.

Nell Gifford was involved with reshaping her circus to meet modern tastes. She was awarded a £10,000 grant and that enabled more people to be involved with producing a show. Barry Grantham was involved with the choreography. Three important women who assisted were the horsewoman Rebecca Townsend, the trapeze artist Emily Park on the trapeze and the aerialist Isabelle Woywode. In the following year Giffords Circus had their first themed show titled "Pearl".^[3]

Nell Gifford died in 2019. The circus was later managed by her niece Lil Rice.^[4][5] and has been directed for many years by Cal McCrystal.^[6]

Performers come from many different countries, but one regular is Tweedy the Clown^[7] (Alan Digweed) who joined in 2004.^[3] He was awarded the British Empire Medal in the 2023 New Year Honours list.^[8][9]

Tours

• 2004: "Pearl"
• 2006: "Joplin": with a 1960s theme
• 2008: "Caravan": set in a horse fair around 1900
• 2010: "Yasmine": inspired by the life of equestrienne Yasmine Smart, who played herself in the production
• 2011: "War and Peace": themed around Napoleon's disastrous intrusion into Russia, seen through the eyes of a Russian aristocratic family
• 2012: "The Saturday Book"
• 2013: "Lucky 13": based on the culture clash resulting from a high art opera- and ballet-themed circus show that is gatecrashed by a rowdy Transylvanian travelling circus^[10][11]
• 2014: "The Thunders": with the Greek Gods as its theme
• 2015: "Moon Songs": blending cultural images of the moon with the story of two young Ethiopian jugglers dreaming of fame
• 2016: "The Painted Wagon": centred on a group of 19th-century American homesteaders^[12][13][14]
• 2017: "Any Port in a Storm": with maritime themes, and telling the story of the circus visiting the 17th-century Spanish court^[15]
• 2018: "My Beautiful Circus": celebrating 250 years of the invention of the circus as an art form^[16]
• 2019: "Xanadu": with a 1960s hippy "Summer of Love" theme^[17]
• 2020: "The Feast": a non-touring show due to the COVID-19 pandemic^[4]
• 2021: "The Hooley" was an Irish dance themed show.^[4]
• 2022: "Carpa" had a Mexican theme.^[18]
• 2023: "Les Enfants Du Paradis".^[19][20]
• 2024: "Avalon" had an Arthurian theme^[21]
• 2025: "Laguna" has a 1950s America theme^[22]