Rochdale’s Skylight Circus Arts named as finalist in Eventbrite’s 'Most Curious and Colourful Events' competition

Skylight Circus Arts from Rochdale, who teach circus skills for all ages and abilities to improve personal, physical and social development, has been selected by ticketing and event platform Eventbrite as a finalist in its Most Curious & Colourful Events competition, beating off strong entries from hundreds of organisers throughout the UK.

The winning event, to be announced in November, will receive a £2,500 cash prize and £2,500 of Eventbrite fee credits to help it grow and bring even more people together

Skylight Circus Arts was commended for being particularly inclusive. It runs specialist events for a whole host of different abilities and circumstances, including its Circus Rainbow events for LGBTQIA teens and its Side by Side sessions which support emotional wellbeing for children and allows parents to join in beside their children.

Skylight Circus Arts is run by 51-year-old David Allen from Bolton. His team have run circus workshops for all ages as young as three to 83 and have triumphed in giving people in wheelchairs the opportunity to participate in aerial circus.

David said: “We teach circus with a purpose. Our organisation was founded just over 30 years ago by two individuals coming from a background in education and circus performance. Skylight Circus Arts brings those two passions together. The skills we teach people help with mobility, fitness, coordination, confidence, teamwork and performance to name a few.

“Each week we run about 15 sessions aimed at different groups within Rochdale – be they refugee families, people with disabilities or the over sixties. We have our own multi-purpose small venue that houses all our equipment, but we also take our sessions on tour, visiting places in the North West. In 2021 our numbers were drastically reduced due to lockdown but we still had over 1,700 participants from a really broad cross section of the community.  

“It’s incredibly rewarding work, and the team that runs these events is exceptionally talented. I’m delighted that we’ve been recognised by Eventbrite in this competition. Hopefully it will encourage more people to try circus skills and performance.”

 

 

71-year-old Linda, who has attended many Skylight Circus Arts events, says: “A friend of a friend told me about Skylight, encouraging me to go along to the Silver Circus sessions for over sixties. I'm generally interested in the arts but I hadn't participated in anything for a long while so it piqued my interest.

“I went along and everyone was so welcoming and the staff were great. They encouraged me to try things within my comfort zone and progress as I became more confident.

“That was four years ago and since then I've learnt a lot of new skills – from juggling to diablo. I've also performed aerial circus at lots of events – to learn something I thought I could never do and then progress to performing is a truly amazing experience at my age. 

“Best of all though, I've made great friendships with staff and participants and I've now got what I call my 'Skylight Family'.”

Eventbrite’s Sebastian Boppert said: “Among the wide variety of experiences on Eventbrite, Skylight Circus Arts stood out as being delightfully different and wonderfully inclusive. Not many people in wheelchairs would have the opportunity to try trapeze! It’s great to see such a fun and joyous pastime being experienced and taken up by people of all ages and abilities. They definitely deserve to be a finalist in the Most Curious & Colourful Events competition, and it’s a huge accolade to David and his team to stand out from the vast number of events of all shapes and sizes we host on our platform all over the UK.”

Throughout and following the pandemic, organisers have worked tirelessly to keep people connected through events and Eventbrite’s Most Curious and Colourful Events competition was created to celebrate the wide diversity of events that can be found on Eventbrite, and especially those that could be described as unusual, unique, alternative – and maybe a little bit ‘out there’. 

Eventbrite hosted over a million events in the UK last year, so selecting only 12 finalists was no mean feat. Other events that made the top 12 include workshops in Japanese paper marbling, underwater photo shoots, puppet making, spoon carving, nettle foraging, and scarecrow making.