Skylight Circus named the winner of Eventbrite’s Most Curious and Colourful Events competition

Date published: 24 November 2022

Skylight Circus in Rochdale, which runs classes for diverse groups such as refugees, LGBTQIA teenagers, disabled people and over-sixties, has won a national competition by Eventbrite, to find the UK’s Most Curious and Colourful Event.

The competition was designed 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’.  

Skylight Circus Arts has won £2,500 in cash and £2,500 in Eventbrite fee credits to help it grow and bring even more people together through live experiences. It will use the cash to run classes and projects that it is unable to get funded, such as its Silver Circus for over sixties, drop-in classes and youth classes.  Meanwhile, it will use the fee credits to further help promote its classes, which encourage people of all ages and abilities to improve their personal, physical and social development as they learn circus skills.

Skylight Circus Arts runs circus classes and workshops for people of all ages, as well as sessions for people with disabilities and special needs, LGBTQIA teens, and refugees from all over the world. They beat off strong entries from hundreds of organisers throughout the UK, including those who have held Japanese paper marbling classes, underwater photo shoots, Morris Dancing meetups, spoon carving workshops, nettle foraging walks, and scarecrow making classes. 

Eventbrite hosted over a million events in the UK last year, so selecting a winner from the 12 finalists was no mean feat. Skylight Circus Arts came out on top for fostering social connection through its welcoming, inclusive and diverse events that help people learn skills and have fun at the same time – this fully aligns with Eventbrite’s company mission to ‘bring the world together through live experiences’. Eventbrite was particularly impressed by Skylight’s Side by Side sessions that support the emotional wellbeing for children alongside their parents.

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: “Winning this competition means the world to a small organisation like ours and we actually cheered with delight during a staff meeting when we got the call.  The money we’ve won will help us continue to support those groups that we don’t get funding for, so people in the local community can meet likeminded folks to socialise and learn new circus skills. It’s so important to us that our services remain open to everyone because the skills we teach people can help with everything from fitness through to building confidence. 

“We pride ourselves on teaching 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. 

“Each week we run about 15 sessions aimed at different groups within Rochdale – be they refugee families, people with disabilities, young people 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 – it’s also fantastic for them to have been recognised by Eventbrite.  Everyone hopes this win 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: “We hosted over a million events last year including thousands of brilliant community events like those run by Skylight Circus Arts. What they do really stood out to us as being wonderfully different, diverse and inclusive, bringing people together and enriching their lives through live experiences. And that, in a nutshell, is what Eventbrite is about. They’re worthy winners and we are looking forward to the prize money going to a worthy cause.”