Giffords Circus kicks off UK tour in Stroud with sell-out show

Kicking off their 250-date UK tour in Stroud on Friday night, the show was well received by a full house with rapturous applause and a standing ovation.

Producer Nell Gifford and director Cal McCrystal have reimagined Giffords Circus as a psychedelic pleasure dome

Xanadu, takes its name from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s famous romantic poem Kubla Khan,where Xanadu is a mythical garden of bliss where anything can happen.

Nell and Cal have set their vision of Xanadu in the psychedelic seventies, creating a garden full of joy, freedom and flowers where the flower power movement is at its height.

Hippies, hipsters, rock stars, musicians, wild women and global nomads with Shamanic horses gather to play, sing, dance, protest and perform.

“I’ve wanted for a while to put on stage the love that our circus community has for eachother,” said Cal McCrystal

“Xanadu is one big party and we want audiences to engage with their inner hippie and be wowed by the amazing feats of human strength and achievement and be part of something really special!”

The pleasure dome has been created by acclaimed production designer takis and draws heavily from both 60’s and 70’s influences.

The music is hypnotic and exciting and acts as a device to lure the audience into the show, the finale is a psychedelic spectacle, and will have everyone dancing in the ring in true Giffords tradition.

The show runs until Monday, May 13, before it returns in September for the final leg of the UK tour.

Tickets start from £10 children and £15 adults.

For more information and to book, go to

or call 01242 691181.