A free circus is coming to Bryant Park for the first time ever
Part of the park's popular Picnic Performances series, presented by Bank of America, this inaugural circus showcase is curated by Monique Martin and serves as a love letter to the city's boundary-pushing circus scene. That means you can expect acts that defy both gravity and genre: aerial artists suspended against the summer sky, acrobats twisting into impossible shapes, clowning that's more artful than slapstick and a giant Rolly apparatus (a mesmerizing human-powered contraption you have to see to understand).
The lineup reads like a who's-who of NYC's most innovative performance troupes: Sxip Shirey Sound Action Ensemble, Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, ABCirque, Hybrid Movement Company, Dzul Dance, Company 29 and Minty Fresh Circus. These aren't your run-of-the-mill big top acts—think contemporary choreography meets old-school showmanship, set to original music and fueled by downtown creative energy.
As with all Picnic Performances, the rules of engagement are simple: Show up early, grab a spot on the lawn and settle in. Free blankets will be handed out on a first-come, first-served basis, but BYO cozy cotton or fleece is encouraged (leave the plastic tarps, yoga mats, and inflatable chairs at home—they're rough on the grass). The event is family-friendly, but let's be honest: Grown-ups might be the ones ooh -ing and ahh -ing the loudest.
Bryant Park's Picnic Performances series has long been a stage for New York's cultural heavyweights, from opera to dance to Broadway, but the addition of a circus festival feels like the perfect end-of-summer wildcard. It's part of the park's mission to give all New Yorkers a front-row seat to the city's arts scene, no ticket or tuxedo required.
So if your August calendar needs a little more spectacle and a lot more sparkle, consider this your cue. The price is right, the setting is unbeatable and for one night only, the center of Manhattan will feel just a little more like the center ring.
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