Gandey World Class Productions

The unveiling of The UK’s First Permanent Monument to Philip Astley & his legacy of the Circus By Andrew Van Buren Images by Andrew Lewis Thankfully it was a gloriously sunny day for the unveil of the country’s first permanent monument to Newcastle-under-Lyme born Philip Astley, the original Ringmaster & creator of the modern day circus and his legacy. I had been working towards 21st April 2018 for a good many months, wanting to pull together a number of threads to celebrate World Circus Day in Newcastle-under-Lyme and this monument was the icing on the cake. Realise Foundation Charity , which encompasses Aspire Housing and PM Training had agreed to create and house the monument. During several meetings designer Candida Kelsall created the image, which was then built by 17 year old PM Training apprentice Liam Robinson. It was placed on its St George Street (ST5 1JX) site on the boundary of Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stoke on Trent...

It's World Circus Day ! Today, on Saturday 21st April, circuses, circus schools and circus advocates around the globe will be celebrating the arts and culture of circus. As Fédération Mondiale du Cirque aptly put it: "It's a special opportunity to celebrate together, to get more supporters and fans of the art of happiness. Our possibilities are borderless." This is the 9th World Circus Day, and it's the most important one yet... as 2018 is the 250th anniversary of circus! Marking 250 years since Philip Astley , a cavalryman from Newcastle-under-Lyme, pitched the first ever circus on the bank of the River Thames. Gandeys Circus wanted to celebrate World Circus Day with some of the locals in Penrith this week. So we invited the pupils and teachers from Beaconside Primary School to join us in the Big Top for an amazing circus presentation and a thrilling afternoon at the show! It was a union brought about by a charming coincidence, actually....

World Circus Day and Celebrity Clowns, What More Could You Ask For? Circus this, Circus that, you may here us banging on about circuses a lot here at Gandey World Class Productions, but that’s because we like them, I mean who doesn’t love the circus? Whether you’re a die hard circus fan or a wide eyed newcomer to the grandstand, everyone can appreciate the awe and delight a circus show can ignite within an audience. Universal in its appeal and unmatched in its wonders, circus art is truly one vestige worth preserving. There are people out there who understand this fact, and it was one of the main aims in forming the Circus Federation. I mentioned this unique organisation in a previous blog, the one headed by the enigmatic Princess Stéphanie (the princess with a soft spot for elephants), and there yearly celebration of circus art known as the World Circus Day. The celebration started last month on the 20thand goes all the way through to the Fifth World Circus day on t...